Ariel 1

On April 26^th 1962 Ariel 1 the first British satellite was launched, it carried 6 experiments, Ariel 1 made the UK only the third country to have a satellite in space at that time. The others being the USA and the Soviet Union.

Ariel 1 which was named after a Shakespearian character from the Tempest was launched by an American rocket. One of the missions of Ariel 1 was to measure solar radiation. The UK did not have at the ability to launch a satellite at this time.

Sadly its career was ended on July 9^th 1962 when the Americans exploded their Starfish Prime atomic bomb in a high altitude test. The solar panels were destroyed and all contact with Ariel1 was lost. Originally designed to re enter the atmosphere in 1963 it came down in 1976.

A Dyer and a Cooke telescope

 

In 1859 Ehud Hanson (Dyer) Hampden Place, Halifax brought a 2.75 in telescope from Thomas Cooke & Sons, it had a polished tube, finder, steadying rods, terrestrial and astronomical eyepieces in box £21.

Ehud Hanson was a partner in Taylor & Hanson Dyers at Hampden Place, Halifax.

Ehud Hanson 1826-1865 employed 36 men and 4 boys in 1861 and 33 men and 5 boys in 1871

The Astronomy Show

 Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.

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 Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country.

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

TW Backhouse and comet Swift

 TW Backhouse of Sunderland using his 4.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope reports on comet Swift 1892. He says that there appeared to be little notice of this comet. Backhouse said that he saw the comet on April 26^th 1892 through a miniature spectroscope on his Cooke telescope. Although the best views of the comet so far were obtained on April 29^th when although faint it was visible to the naked eye. The comet had a tail 11 degrees long. On April 30^th the head of the comet was about 4^th magnitude and was seen between mu and lambda Pegasus.

Charles Howell and his Cooke telescopes

 In 1857 Charles Howell (1783-1867) of Hove, Brighton purchased a 6.25 inch Thomas Cooke of York telescope, it was similar in design to the one that was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition in 1855.

The telescope would be placed into an observatory, which I believe was built locally and not a Cooke observatory. Later after 1864 he also purchased a 7.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope. It was this telescope that Mr Fry used to photograph the Moon with in 1865. This telescope was housed in a separate observatory and again this observatory appears to be locally made.

He was also interested in double stars and planets, and because of his age he often let his many friends in the Brighton area use his telescopes.

The Astronomy Show

 Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.

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 Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country.

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

A Cooke telescope in Whitby

 There is a 5 inch Thomas Cooke and Sons telescope located in an observatory in the grounds of Whitby Community College which today is Whitby School.

The telescope dates from about 1880/1890 and was used between 1912 until 1932 by Mr John Bruce and the observatory is typical of a late 19^th early 20^th century design. Today the observatory is known as the Bruce Observatory.

The observatory appeared to be in use until the 1960s by the school physics department. I am not sure when it started to be less used but when I visited the observatory in the mid 1990s both the telescope and observatory needed some attention.

That seems to have been undertaken as the telescope is often used by the Whitby& District Astronomical Society who organise astronomical events there.

Sunspot seen from Thornton in Craven with a Cooke telescope

 On December 14^th 1864 Thomas Wilson of Thornton in Craven in Yorkshire using a 4.25 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope observed a solitary spot on the surface of the Sun. He says that in sketching the spot immediately after apparent noon, finding the penumbral outline and radial shading considerably confused and indistinct, especially on the eastern side, my attention was drawn to its surrounding neighbourhood, where I was agreeably surprised by the realisation of the elongated very minute lenticular forms, which have been compared to willow leaves, overlapping the penumbra and, and diffused over the whole surface.

Wilson goes onto say that in making 97 sketches of spots during the last three and a half years, nearly all after taking meridian transits, I never before saw anything beyond the mottled surface, which has been described as parchment, rice grain, flocculent chemical precipitate like appearances &; I have supposed that depending on the state of the air this was beyond the reach of a small telescope such as my 4.25 inch Cooke

1868 Transit of Mercury seen from Liverpool with a Cooke telescope .

George Williams using a 4.25 inch Cooke & Sons telescope observed the transit of Mercury on November 5^th 1868 from 2, Devonshire Road, prince’s Park Liverpool.

Williams observed no apparent elongation or pear shape, or black drop at the egress of the planet; but the boiling of the limb, which was considerable, may account for the absence of these appearances.

Martian Moons seen with a Cooke telescope from Sunderland

 On December 22^nd 1881 John Watson of Sunderland (more accurately Seaham Harbour, which is about 5 miles south of Sunderland) reported seeing two small points of light near Mars using a Thomas Cooke & Sons 12inch refractor. The positions of the moons were determined by using the ephemeris of Mars is indicated where the two satellite should be.

I have little more information regarding either this 12 inch telescope or observations made by it. Although it is mentioned in G F Chambers Handbook of Descriptive and Practical Astronomy vol. 2 Oxford 1890 page 297.

Watson had an 8 inch Wray telescope mounted on a metal pillar supplied by Thomas Cooke which he offered for sale in 1880 presumably to make room for the 12 inch Cooke.

A Cooke telescope at the Stock Exchange

 

In April 1865 William Bolger Gibbs (1834-1925) of Talford Road, Peckham purchased a 4 inch telescope from Thomas Cooke & Sons York, a little later he purchased a 5.5 inch refractor which he housed in an observatory, I cannot say if this was a Cooke telescope or not.

He was described as the “Father of the London Stock Exchange” but apart from his business he loved science and in particular astronomy.

He was friends with his near neighbour James Buckingham of Walworth who owned the 21 inch refracting telescope.

Photography in 1890 with a Cooke telescope in Newcastle

In 1890 Lawrence Richardson of Newcastle on Tyne using a 4.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope undertook some research into astronomical photography using his telescope which was an achromatic. He was not that hopeful of getting really sharp images, the Cooke & Sons photo visual telescope would not be available until he mid 1890s.

Richardson found that he could take a photograph of Orion which would show hundreds of stars and which would take around about an hour. He went on to say that he thought that astrophotography was a very good field for amateur astronomers to work in and obtain good results.

The Egg Moon

     The Full Moon in April is called the Egg Moon. This has nothing at all to do with Easter eggs but is due to the increasing amount of daylight which results in hens, ducks and geese laying more eggs.

The Astronomy Show

 Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country.

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 Astronomy in Yorkshire - God’s Own Country.

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

Even a Cooke telescope cannot see through trees

 Mt T H Waller of York in 1865 and using a 4.75 inch Cooke telescope was trying to observe the satellites of Jupiter when unfortunately the planet was obscured by some trees and he was unable to see the immersion of the second satellite or the transit of the third. Fortunately by the time that the fourth satellite was passing in front of Jupiter it had cleared the trees.

Mr Waller was also a very keen double star observer he would often the double star catalogue of Mr Brothers of Manchester and the Bedford Catalogue.

Mr Tetley of Leeds and his Cooke telescope

In October 1930 Mr Tetley of Headingley, Leeds used his 4 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope to observe the Sun. He took some photographs of the great sun spot group of October that year. In particular on October 10^th the photographs very clearly showed the changes which took place in the groups which crossed the central meridian

Spot observed on Saturn with a Cooke telescope

 Dr J Haswell of  Grange Terrace, Sunderland  observed the spot on Saturn that had been seen by Dr Terby in March 1890. He saw the spot on several nights in March , and he described it as being very obvious on March 30^th, though not so noticeable as it had been last spring.

Dr Haswell used a 4.25 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope which was of short focal length.