Thomas Cooke telescopes crop up all over the country, and here is another one. This is a 5 inch telescope that was owned by William Bradshaw Housman (1878-1955).
He had an observatory for his Cooke telescope at his home in Seaton in Workington. By profession he was an engineering draughtsman. His first observation using his Cooke telescope was in 1924, I don’t have any further information on the telescope regarding who owned it before Housman or in what year it was made.
He was very keen on observing the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights and in fact between 1928-1951 he would be the Director of the Aurora and Zodiacal Light section for the British Astronomical Association.
He was a very keen observer of Mars and drew many wonderful coloured pictures of the red planet using the Cooke telescope during the 1930 and 40s. . During World War 2 the blackout conditions meant that he was able to see Mars against a very dark background with no light pollution at all.
W B Housman died in 1955 , I don’t know what happened to his
Cooke telescope and like so many other
unsung astronomy heroes William Bradshaw disappears in to the sunset.
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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