The Astronomy Show

 

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and the Messier Marathon.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio 102 and 103.5 FM the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com and the show can be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

Isaac Roberts, Nebula and a Cooke

 

In Monthly Notices, LXIII, 1, Dr Isaac Roberts contributes a most valuable and startling paper on the subject of 52 regions observed as nebulous by Sir William Herschel. These regions were photographed using both the 20 inch reflector and 5 inch Cooke & Sons refractor. The surprising result is that in only 4 out of the 52 regions is any nebulosity found.

Will Hay, Nova Puppis and a Cooke

 

Will Hay is best remembered as a comedian of the stage and in films in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a very competent astronomer who discovered a white spot on Saturn in 1933 using a 6 inch Cooke telescope. He also observed Nova Puppis 1942 with a Cooke this time a 3.5 inch telescope.

Observing from London early in the morning of November 24^th 1942 and using his 3.5 inch Cooke he saw the nova. He had seen it a few days earlier on November 14^th as a naked eye object of around magnitude 3.5. By November 24^th it had faded and a telescope was needed to see it.

It was very close to the horizon and he estimated the brightness of the nova as between magnitude 4 and 5 but as he commented being so close to the horizon it is difficult to estimate the brightness of a star so low in the sky due to the amount of atmosphere the light has to pass through.

Will Hay was also struck by the red colour of the nova. He checked other stars nearby of about the same brightness and they appeared to be their normal colours suggesting that the redness was in the nova itself.

Nova Puppis was discovered by Bernhard Dawson at the La Plata Observatory in Argentina on November 8^th 1942. It reached a maximum magnitude of 0.3 on November 10^th 1942.

Amalthea seen with the 25 inch Cooke

On January 24^th and February 4^th 1893 Mr Newall using the 25 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope at the new observatory at Cambridge observed the 5^thsatellite of Jupiter.

(I assume by the 5^thsatellite he means Amalthea which was discovered by Barnard in 1892)

Mr Newall remarked that it has been most justly described as a very difficult object to see.

New Home for Newall Telescope

 By November 1891 the 25 inch Newall Telescope and dome are all but completely mounted on their new site at Cambridge. 

Mr H F Newall son of Mr R Newall who purchased the 25 inch telescope from Thomas Cooke & Sons has built himself a house close by, whence he has been superintending the project.

Maw and his two Cookes

 

William Henry Maw (1836 – 1924) was born in Scarborough on December 6^th 1836, when he was growing up he was friends with the sons of Dr Harland, two who would become the founders of the Harland & Wolf ship builders. Both his parents died when he was in his teens, without influences and an advantage of a higher education he was still able to raise himself to become a leading authority in the fields of mechanics and engineering.

His leisure time was however devoted to astronomy. In Kensington, London in 1887 he built an observatory for his 6 inch Cooke telescope which he used to study the Moon. Later from 1897 when he lived in Surrey he built an observatory for a larger 8 inch Cooke telescope. This had originally been owned by the Rev R W Dawes and would later be located at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge and known as the Thorrowgood Telescope.

W H Maw made extensive observations of double stars using both Cooke telescopes. In particular the double stars from the Struve catalogue. His observations were considered to be very accurate. Maw was a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and one of the founders of the British Astronomical Society.

The Astronomy Show

 

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and the Messier Marathon.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio 102 and 103.5 FM the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com and the show can be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

The Frost Moon

 The Full Moon in November is referred to as the Frost Moon as this is the month when the first frosts can be expected and it lived up to its name this year with the first hard frosts in England.

 

Jupiter with no visible Moons seen from Liverpool with a Cooke

 

On August 22^nd 1867, John Joynson at Waterloo near Liverpool observed Jupiter with no satellites visible. This was done using a 6 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope.

Airy verses a Cooke

 

The occultation of Aldebaran in 1867 was observed by Mr Airy who remarked that the star did not come out bright instantaneously but was 38 seconds regaining its full light.

Whereas Mr Joynson with his 3.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope described the star as sliding on the Moon’s disk at the immersion but re appearing instantaneously.

Venus seen at Worsley, Manchester with a Cooke

 

A drawing of Venus was made at the observatory of Mr Chatwood at Worsley, Manchester using his 9.75 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope. This was reported at the British Astronomical Association meeting on December 18^th 1901.

Saturn's Rings seen with a Cooke

 

Mr R Congrieve-Pridgeon using the 6 inch Cooke refractor at the Hampstead Observatory got observations on February 22^nd 1937 one or two days after the passage of Saturn’s rings had passed through the plane.

Mr Congrieve-Pridgeon glimpsed it as a fine silver line shortly after sunset and at 18h and 5 min made the note ‘Ring E and W seemed certain; very fine golden line.

Lunar Eclipse seen with a Cooke on a Cooke

 

BAA vol 60 No 2 1950 page 47

Mr Ovenden then showed on the screen slide reproductions of two photographs of the (lunar) eclipse taken by Mr M J Smyth, a member who is a research student at the Cambridge Observatories. They were taken with a Leica camera at the focus of a 4 inch Cooke photovisual objective, focal length 72 inches attached to the mounting of the 25 inch Newall refractor.

The Astronomy Show

 

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and the Messier Marathon.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio 102 and 103.5 FM the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com and the show can be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

Nova Hercules 1934 seen with Cooke from Hampstead

 

Dr Steavenson using the 6 inch Cooke refractor of the Observatory of the Hampstead Scientific Society showed on the epidiascope a light curve of Nova Hercules, and during March 1935 there was a steady fall to a minimum mag of 5.0 on March 21^st There then was a marked recovery to mag 3.9 by March 25^th.

Trapezium faint stars seen with a 4.5 inch Cooke

 

To the editor of the Astronomical Register

sir- Your correspondent Mr D A Freeman, should be able to see both the small stars in the trapezium of Orion on a fine night with a 4.5 inch glass. I have seen them easily with a 4.5 inch telescope; but in saying this, I would also remark that on a bad night I have failed to see either of them through my 8.5 inch by Cooke of York.

I am sir yours faithfully Frederick Brodie- February 1865.

Pro-Am Astronomy 19th century style

 

Weekly Advertiser Sunday 22^nd October 1865

Amateur astronomers of Great Britain and Ireland are invited to send to the President of the Royal Astronomical Society, Somerset House, a short account of their means of observation : for example, the nature of the instruments they possess stating (in the case of telescopes) whether they are refractors or reflectors, their aperture, focal length, and form of mounting; also, whether the instruments are placed in observatories or used in the open air.

Birmingham University Cooke

 

The 7 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope at the University of Birmingham was used in particular by Dr Young in the 1920s to take a series of photographs of the surface of the Moon. These were used to measure the diameters of lunar craters.

Sir Frank Watson Dyson, the Time Pip Man

 

Sir Frank Watson Dyson 1868-1939 was born near Ashby de la Zouche in Leicestershire who is largely remembered today for introducing the time signals or (pips) from Greenwich.

Although not born in Yorkshire when he was very young his family moved to Yorkshire. He attended the Heath Grammar School, Halifax. He then won a scholarship to Bradford Grammar School and then Trinity College, Cambridge where he studied astronomy and mathematics.

In 1894 he was given the post of senior assistant at Greenwich Observatory and worked on the astrographic catalogue which was a massive international project which started in the late 19^th century to photograph the night sky. It was only partially success with some areas of the sky never being completed. The British section was however completed in 1905.

Frank Watson Dyson was appointed astronomer royal for Scotland from 1905-1910 and astronomer royal at the royal Greenwich observatory from 1910 to 1933. He was knighted in 1915.

Probably his most known contribution came about in 1924 when he introduced the six time pips via the BBC. While in 1928 he introduced what was at the time the most accurate clock and organised wireless transmissions from the GPO wireless station at Rugby. With all his work on clocks he was for several years the president of the British Horological Society.

Sir Frank met King George v in 1925 and took him for a tour around the Greenwich Observatory this was part of a meeting of the International Astronomical Union IAU who were meeting at Cambridge. Frank Watson Dyson would become president of the IAU between 1928-1932. Another Yorkshire Alfred Fowler was in fact the first secretary of the IAU in 1919.

Sir Frank was at Giggleswick School in 1927 for the eclipse of the Sun that was visible over North Wales and Northern England. He had a great interest in eclipses of the Sun and helped to organise the expeditions to Brazil to observe it and astronomers there confirmed Albert Einstein’s theory of the effect gravity on light.

He worked with astronomers around the world and this was appreciated with everyone who knew him. One interesting story much closer to home comes from the 1920s involved a telephone called that a clergyman from Blackheath in London took from Sir Frank. He told the clergyman there was a crack on the church tower. The clergyman asked how do you know, I can’t see anything wrong. Sir Frank replied No I daresay not but with my big telescope I can. I assume this was the 28 inch refractor at Greenwich

The crater Dyson on the Moon is named after him as is the asteroid 1241 Dysona.

Sir Frank Watson Dyson’s health was failing and sadly he died on a ship travelling from Australia back to England. He died on May 25^th 1939 and was buried at sea.

Jupiter and his satellites seen with a Cooke from Worcester

 

On the 21^st August 1866 Thomas Barneby of Worcester observed Jupiter and his satellites using a 9 inch Thomas Cooke telescope that had originally been made for the late Captain Jacob.

Rather confusingly Thomas Barneby’s observatory changes name from the mid 1860s when it is called South Villa Observatory to in 1874 when it is called the Morton House Observatory. I don’t know if this was due to a move of house but in both cases the addresses were near Worcester.

To get back to Jupiter he describes that when he first saw Jupiter, the shadow of the third satellite only was on its disk. The third satellite itself next made its ingress, and I afterwards saw several ingresses of the shadows of the fourth and first satellites.

The second satellite had then become eclipsed leaving no satellite visible, except on the face of the planet.

The three shadows were perfectly black and there was no perceptible penumbra, although the outlines were not so clearly defined as I have seen them with a smaller instrument.

The Astronomy Show

 

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and the Messier Marathon.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio 102 and 103.5 FM the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com and the show can be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

A Cooke in Dorset

 

Yorkshire Gazette 9^th June 1861

Mr H S Eaton of Dorset, a distinguished meteorologist has recently observed and made  beautiful drawings of both Jupiter and Saturn  using his newly installed 10 inch Thomas Cooke and Sons telescope. 

The George Banaster Cooke Telescope

 

Tewksbury Register and Agricultural Gazette Saturday 5^th October 1901

The estate of George Banaster, Mythe Villa, Tewksbury will be sold at auction by Moore and Sons included is a magnificent 4 inch equatorial telescope by Cooke.

Yorkshire Fine Arts & Industrial Exhibition and Cooke

 

York Herald Saturday 25^th August 1866

From this case the catalogue directs the attention of the visitor to that beautiful one which has been contributed by the Messrs. T. Cooke and Sous, of Buckingham Works. York. This contains a large variety of articles, the uses of which it would be difficult for any but of scientific attainments to decide; and we therefore append a list for the benefit of those who, attracted to an examination of them, cannot, for the nicety and finish displayed in their manufacture, help but admire. In the centre of the case is a large theodolite (ten inches) on Everest's principle of construction; two smaller theodolites, of five and six inches, and the same construction; and one six-inch engineer's transit theodolite. Surrounding these are three engineer's levels, with telescopes of from ten to fourteen inches focal length ; several portable and pocket telescopes ; a small telescope on stand ; a compound acromatic microscope, with geometrical stage with rectangular and circular motions ; several aneroid barometers, possessing T. Cooke and Sons' patent, much used by scientific travellers and the Alpine Club for measuring heights; cases of first-class mathematical drawing instruments a lathe slide rest, with straight line, rectangular and circular motions, and carrying cutting apparatus for gentlemen's fancy and ornamental turning ; a geometrical lathe chuck, of ten inches diameter, for producing or generating an infinite variety of beautiful figures and patterns required in ornamental turning ; a cutter frame and guide pulleys ; a rose engine and cutters used in ornamental turning ; a variety of binocular opera and tourist glasses ; a large first-class silver medal, awarded to T. Cooke and Sons at the Paris Exhibition of 1865; and two first-class medals also awarded to them at the London Exhibition of 1862. At one end of the case is an astronomical clock, with mercurial compensated pendulum. This instrument can be adjusted for mean time, and thus forms an excellent regulator, suitable for a gentleman's hall. At the other end of the principal case is probably the largest extent aneroid barometer, remarkably sensitive, the dial about two feet diameter, giving a scale of fourteen inches for a corresponding one inch in the mercurial barometer. The theodolites and levels' first mentioned contain numerous improvements introduced by T. Cooke and Sons, and of such instruments they supply many to Government to be used on the great trigonometrical survey of India. It need scarcely be added that the Messrs. Cooke have made the city celebrated for the manufacture of the above description of articles, and that beyond their case there are few possessing more interest in the Exhibition.

Mr. Baxendell, Delphinus and Manchester

 

On October 24^th 1863 Mr Baxendell in Manchester announced the discovery of a new variable star in Delphinus with a magnitude of 8.6. By December it had fallen to magnitude 12. After conjunction with the Sun it was found again on July 29^th 1864 as a magnitude 13 object. From then until September 5^th it rose to magnitude 8.4.

Although not given a variable star designation at the time I believe this star is Z Delphinus a long period variable star with a period of 304 days and varying between 8.3 and 15.3

Venus seen with a small Cooke

 

On February 15^th 1868 at 6.15 pm William Lawton of Hull observed the planet Mercury, it was as he described one of the clearest views he had of that planet.

Using powers of 50 and up to 100 on the 2 inch Cooke and Sons telescope he was able to observe the gibbous aspect of the planet and also took note of its brilliancy.

Bright spot on dark side of the Moon seen with a Cooke

 

 At 7h.30m on the 9^th inst, while waiting for the occultation of 130 Tauri, I was surprised to observe, a spot on the dark side of the Moon’s disc, nearly equal in brightness to a star of the 7^th mag,; it was so conspicuous that it could not possible have been overlooked by the most careful; observer.

Unfortunately, I was unable to fix its position with accuracy; but after careful consideration I think its place was nearly, if not quite, identical with that of Aristarchus.

The outlines of the various ‘seas’ and of a few of the larger craters on the NE and SE quadrants were very plainly seen; Grimaldi, especially, was remarkable distinct.

I watched he spot from 7h 30m to 8h 30m; at about 8h 15m it became much fainter; and on returning to my observatory at about 9h I could scarcely perceive any trace of it.

Although I have observed very similar phenomena on former occasions, yet I have never before seen a spot on the dark side of the Moon with such remarkable clearness.

The definition on the evening of the 9^th inst was bad, but the atmosphere was unusually clear.

Powers used: 75 and 115 on 4 inches aperture by Cooke.

T G E Elger

Bedford April 12^th 1867

Frederick Brodie and an 8.5 inch Cooke Telescope

 

Frederick Brodie was born in Eastbourne Sussex on July 19^th 1835, his mother Anna was the daughter of John Walter MP, the founder of the Times. He studied at the University of Edinburgh his background would be engineering but he had a great interest in astronomy.

Originally he settled in Somerset with his wife where he had an observatory with a 6.25 in Merz refractor. On the death of his wife in 1854 he moved from Somerset to Eastbourne where he relocated his observatory, following his second marriage in 1858 he moved to Uckfield in Sussex .

Brodie had an 8.5 in Cooke refractor which he obtained around 1860 shortly after moving to Uckfield. During the next 18 years he would observations of the Sun, star clusters and comets. In Chambers Handbook of Descriptive astronomy there are drawings made by Brodie of Sunspots in 1865 and comet Coggia in 1874 using the Cooke telescope.

In 1878 Brodie moved again with his observatory to Wootton on the Isle of Wight where he set up the Fernhill Observatory. Brodie died on August 14^th 1896. In 2000 the whole observatory and telescope was sold to a buyer in America, where I believe it still to be.

The Astronomy Show

 

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and the Messier Marathon.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio 102 and 103.5 FM the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com and the show can be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

A Derby Cooke for Sale

 

London Evening Standard Monday 24^th September 1900

Tuesday next, September 25^th

Sold by order of the executers of the late J Barber Esq, formerly of Spondon, near Derby

Mr J C Stevens will sell by auction at his great rooms 38 King Street, Covent Garden on Tuesday, September 25^th next at half past twelve o’clock an EQUATORIAL TELESCOPE by Cooke & Sons of York: 7.25 inch object glass, eyepieces, clock & on iron column, position micrometer, anemometers, spectroscopes, Ross best binocular microscope with nine objectives and other apparatus, cabinets of microscopical slides, lantern microscope apparatus by Newton, gas bottles, gauges, screens, quartz, flints and other prisms, diffraction gratings, electric and other clocks, a fine ship’s chronometer, expensive Geisler’s tubes and X Ray tubes and other important scientific apparatus.- On view day prior from ten until four, and morning of sale, catalogues on application.