Two Cooke telescopes for Plymouth in 1866

 Edward Mills of Weston Lodge, Plymouth ordered two telescopes from Thomas Cooke in 1866. One was a 4.5 inch and the other was a 3.5 inch. I am not sure of any observations he made with theses telescopes.

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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 live on line at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

A small Thomas Cooke telescope for a bullet maker in 1865

 In 1865 Mr W E Metford of Bristol purchased a small 2 inch Cooke telescope. Although he liked astronomy his main interest was in the development of bullets for rifles.

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4 inch Cooke telescope ordered for Tynemouth

On the 20th December 1858 Dr Matthews from Tynemouth ordered a telescope of 4 inch aperture from Thomas Cooke & Sons York,  plus a polished brass tube, a finder, four eyepieces, sun prism and dark glasses, two brass clamps for fixing to stand at a cost of £40. ( In 2023 that would be equal to £6,640)

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Thomas Cook could vote in the 1837 election

Thomas Cook optician of Stonegate in York was objected to being able to vote in the general election of 1837 by a Mr Graham because he believed that Mr Cook was not a £10 Freeholder. At this time unless you owned a freehold property to the value of £10 you were unable to vote.

However on checking it was found that Mr Cook had a previous rating that showed he was a £10 Free holder owning his opticians shop in Stonegate and was therefore allowed to vote.

The 1837 election was won by the Viscount Melbourne. I do not know which way Thomas Cook voted.

Also note that his name is spelled without an ‘e’, he went from Thomas Cook to Thomas Cooke sometime in the early 1840s.

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The Frost Moon becomes the Before Yule Moon

 The full moon in November which this year occurs on the 27^th is usually known as the Frost Moon. November is the month when traditionally the first very cold nights of the year occur and frosts will be seen, heralding the coming of the winter months.

However the full moon on the 27 November is the last before the feast of Yule which occurs on December 21^st. This is the day of the year when the Sun is at its lowest in the sky and produces the shortest period of daylight of the year. This date can vary from year to year by a day or so.

A long time ago people watched for the full moon in December or occasionally in November; they then had from that date until the feast of Yule to chop down a Yule log from the forest in readiness to burn it from the feast of Yule for twelve nights. Today of course the Yule log has turned from firewood into a cake!!

The full moon in December falls on December 27. This means that the full moon in December this year will be known as the 'Cold Moon'. The naming of the full moons this year became disrupted because of the Blue Moon in September.

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Snowballs and the Thomas Cooke works in York

In early December 1882, two youths employed at the Thomas Cooke, Buckingham Works, Bishophill, York were summoned for snowballing near the works. It was shown that two residents in the vicinity were compelled to put their shutters in lest their windows should be broken.

Mr Haley stated that he had had numerous complaints respecting snowballing. Mr Ditmas who appeared for the boys submitted that the defendants not having been previously warned might with justice be discharged.

Mr Rowntree said that snowballing could not be considered a privileged. The youths were find 1 shilling each.

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Jupiter glides past the Moon and Seven Sisters

 There are some fantastic observing opportunities coming along over the next few days.

If we have clear skies on the nights of November 24^th and 25^th there will be two chances to see the Moon and Jupiter close together in the sky.

On November 24^th Jupiter will be just beneath the Moon while on the following night November 25^th Jupiter will appear to be above the Moon.

If that is not enough on November 26^th the Moon will be just below the Pleiades or Seven Sisters which is a cluster of stars and can be seen in the sky as a fuzzy patch.

You don’t need binoculars or telescopes to see these events just clear skies. Good luck!!

                                                         www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

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 live on line at www.drystoneradio.com DAB radio in Bradford and East Lancashire, or 102 and 103.5 FM and can also be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.

Amalthea observed with 25 inch Cooke telescope

 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.

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When Will Hay observed Nova Puppis 1942 with a Cooke telescope

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.

Occultation of 73 Pisces from India with a Cooke telescope

The occultation of the star 73 Pisces by Jupiter was observed from Meean Meer, Lahore, India on December 23^rd 1880 by H Collett using a 4.5 inch Cooke telescope with a power of 96.

At 01 hours, 52 minutes, 30seconds GMT the star was hanging on the limb of the planet and by 01 hour and 54 minutes it had entirely disappeared. The phenomenon strongly resembled the occultation of a satellite except the disappearance was more rapid. The planet and star appeared to cohere for about 1.5 minutes.

No micrometer was used. The GMT of reappearance was 02 hour, 44 minutes when the star was again observed to hang onto the planet’s limb. The planet was well placed for observation being near the zenith

Before and after the occultation Jupiter appeared as if with 5 moons, the star being almost indistinguishable from the satellites.

As the occultation could not be observed in Europe these few notes may prove to be of some interest.

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Venus seen through a Cooke telescope from Manchester in 1901

 A drawing of Venus was made at the observatory of Mr Chatwood at Worsley, Manchester in 1901 using his 9.75 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope. This had originally been owned by Isaac Fletcher of Cumberland.

The telescope would in 1902 be purchased by J T Ward for the newly formed Wanganui Astronomical Society in New Zealand.

The telescope is sometimes referred to as a 9.5 or 9.75 inch telescope and just to add extra confusion when ordered it was supposed to be a 9 inch telescope.

Jupiter seen with no moons from Liverpool in 1867

 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.

Occultation of Aldebaran in 1867

 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 in Liverpool 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

                                                       www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

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.

Rings of Saturn seen with a Cooke telescope in 1937

Mr R Congrieve-Pridgeon using the 6 inch Cooke refractor at the Hampstead Observatory made 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.

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Nova Hercules 1934 and a Cooke telescope

 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.

The Franklin Adams Star Charts and Cooke telescopes and Cameras

From Nature magazine in 1913

John Franklin Adams photographed the entire night sky between 1904 and 1909 from Godalming in Surrey for the northern hemisphere and from South Africa for the Southern Hemisphere using a 10 inch Cooke camera and two 6 inch Cooke cameras. The 206 photographic plates covered the entire sky. Each plate covered an area 15 degrees by 15 degrees.

In 1913 the Royal Astronomical Society undertook to publish a small number of the Franklin Adams Charts.

The reproductions were on bromide paper 15 inches by 12 inches with the plate area being 11inches by 11 inches. The cost of each set will be 10 guineas in 2023 this would be over £1,400!!

It is hoped that a sufficient number of subscribers will be enlisted to help to defray the cost of such an expensive undertaking. It is hoped that they will be ready in 1914.

Today the Franklin Adams Charts are still use by astronomers due to their quality and their historical reference to the night sky over 100 years ago.

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Transit of Mercury seen from Australia in 1940 with a Cooke telescope

On November 11^th 1940 a transit of Mercury was visible for Britain that same transit was also visible from Australia on November 12^th due to the different time zones.

It was seen in Australia  by Mark Howarth at the Grange Mount Observatory, Newcastle New South Wales, Australia. A Cooke 4.5 inch telescope was used with a solar diagonal of power x 80. Weather conditions were good, especially at times of the beginning and ending of the transit.

A slight haze made it impossible to obtain satisfactory photographs. The temperature at the time of the transit was 92 degrees F. or if you prefer 33 degrees C.

A transit of Mercury occurs when the planet passes if front of the Sun as seen from Earth. Mercury can then be seen as a dark spot slowly moving across the Sun. Although not as scientifically important as transits of Venus, transits of Mercury still attract a lot of attention. The most recent was in 2019 the next will be in 2032.

Occultation of delta3 Taurus seen from Liverpool with a 6 in Cooke telescope

On November 9^th 1870 John Joynson of Waterloo in Liverpool observed an occultation of delta 3 Tauri. Delta 3 is one of the members of the Hyades cluster of stars that are near to Aldebaran in Taurus. Joynson was using a 6 inch Cooke telescope.

According to Joynson the Moon passed in front of  this star and the disappearance took place at 11 hours, 19 minutes and 11.3 seconds. The star reappeared at 12 hours 16 minutes and 50.7 seconds. The observations were considered very satisfactory.

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The Thomas Cooke 25 inch lens tested

On November 5^th 1867 the 25 inch object glass which had been so long in the making by Thomas Cooke of York was completed. This was the largest object glass to that date. 

 It was tested on the double star gamma 2 Andromeda and the stars were seen most distinctly divided and with the spurious disks of the three stars of the system perfectly round.

When completed in 1870 the telescope would be used by Robert Newall in Gateshead, at this time it was the largest telescope in the world.

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