Cooke Telescope Tales - 9 inch telescope for Sir William Keith Murray in 1858

On December 11^th 1858 Sir William Keith Murray (1801-1861) of Ochertyre  near Crieff in Scotland purchased a 9 inch telescope from Thomas Cooke of York. The telescope was massive and had a tube that was 13 feet long and was mounted on a stone pier 9 feet and 3 inches tall. Up until this point in time it was the largest telescope that Cooke had constructed and it was also at the time the largest refractor in Scotland.

 The weather conditions were often poor at the location of the observatory and Murray was only able to use the Cooke for a short period before his death in 1861. Following his death the telescope was offered for sale unfortunately with no initial interest.

 In 1863 a number of gentlemen raised £1,120 ( today this would be £173,534) to purchase the telescope for the observatory at Glasgow University. It was sited at the Horselethill Observatory and used there until 1939 when the building was demolished. The 9 inch was always referred to as the 9 inch Ochertyre Telescope.

Following the demolition of the Horselethill Observatory a new student observatory was built in the University Gardens to house the 9 in Cooke. 

This was closed in 1969 after which I don’t know  what happened to the 9 inch Cooke Ochtertyre Telescope.

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A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Suicide at Observatory House in 1892

Hull Daily Mail Wednesday 14^th September 1892

 

PREMEDITATED SUICIDE

 

George Digby Cole, valet to a gentleman named Herschell, who resides at Observatory House, in the Windsor Road Slough, having had disagreement with his master, went on Monday afternoon to a chemist, and, pretending that required the drug for the purpose of poisoning a dog, obtained some prussic acid. He then proceeded to the house of his former employer, and, after using some improper language, took out the bottle and swallowed its poisonous contents. The man walked the room for few moments screaming and shouting in his death agonies till he fell exhausted to the floor.

 

A surgeon attended as speedily as possible, and administered an emetic but he expired. It is said that Cole, who was considered rather an eccentric person, was walking shortly before he committed suicide with an undertaker, whom he asked to measure him for a coffin when he was dead.

 

MY NOTE

 

I am not sure which member of the Herschell family was living at Observatory House at this time.

 

Pussic acid is Hydrogen Cyanide

A little ramble through Eridanus the River

Eridanus is the 6^th largest constellation in the sky, but it is often overlooked due to the lack of bright stars. Or at least certainly from the northern hemisphere. Its brightest star Achernar is not visible from the UK. The constellations starts close to the bright star Rigel in Orion and then meanders south and below the horizon. 

To the Greeks Eridanus was sometimes called the River of Orion due its closeness to Rigel. It is often associated with the river into which Phaethon fell after trying to use the chariot of his father, the sun god. Some Greeks also just referred to it as the river.

It was also seen as a river by the Euphratean astronomers who used the name of Erib-me-gali.

Keeping up this theme of a river the Arab astronomers called this constellation Al Nahr which again means the river.

The brightest star in Eridanus is alpha or Achernar which in Arabic is Al Anir al Nahr or the End of the River. An interesting point to note is that this name was first given to the star theta. This was because it was the southernmost bright star to be seen from Greece. When European explorers travelled to the southern hemisphere, they saw a bright star that could not be seen from Europe.

In 1603 the German astronomer Johannes Bayer extended the length of Eridanus and named it Achernar the End of the river. The star theta was renamed Acamar which in Arabic means the Root.

Achernar is a B class star with a magnitude of 0.5 and is the 9th brightest star in the sky, Achernar is139 light years away. We normally think of a star as a sphere of hot spinning gas but Achernar spins so quickly that it is pushed out of shape, so it appears more like an oblate spheroid. It is quite possibly the least known spherical star in our galaxy. It is not a single star it has a companion star. Achernar is around 10 times the diameter bigger than our Sun. The average temperature is about 15,000 degrees much hotter than the Sun; however, this varies because at the poles it is 17,000 degrees while at the equator its 12,000 degrees.

Theta or Acamar has a magnitude of 2.9 and is 164 light years away. Acamar is a double star, and both stars are A class stars indicating they are hotter than our Sun.

Beta or as it is known to the Arab astronomers as Cursa which means The chair or the Footstall of the Central One is located just above the bright star Rigel in the constellation of Orion. To the Chinese this was called Yuh Tsing or The Golden well. It has a magnitude of 2.8 and is an A class star lying  90 light years away.

Gamma was known to the Arab astronomers as either Zaurac or Zaurak which means the Bright Star of the Boat. The star is a red M class giant star around 192 light years away and has a magnitude or brightness of 2.9. As it is an M class star it will be cooler than the Sun with a surface temperature of about 3,500 degrees compared to the 5,800 degrees of the Sun.

 Gamma or Azha as it was known to the Arab astronomer Al Sufi was chief among the stars of the Ostrich’s Nest which the word Azha means. Its an K class star again cooler than the Sun with a magnitude of 3.9 and is 137 light years away.

There are no bright deep sky objects to mention.

                                                    www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Bath Observatory destroyed by fire in 1867

 Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette Thursday 24^th January 1867.

 

 Destruction of an Observatory. 

—On Sunday last the observatory connected with St. Gregory's College, Downside, near Bath, was totally destroyed by fire. It originated apparently in the heating apparatus, which kindled the joists of the ground floor; the flames, which caught some stuffed birds and other natural history specimens in the museum kept in the lower room, were rapidly communicated to the equatorial room above, in which was a magnificent refracting telescope of 15 inches diameter and 20 feet focal length. 

The observing stages formed capital fuel for the fire, and in less than hour the whole was one mass of flame, leaving no possibility of rescuing anything. The loss of the glass and astronomical plant attached to the telescope is the more unfortunate as the observatory had only just been placed in full working order. The loss to the college of the antiquities, curiosities, and natural history collections in the museum cannot be estimated, for they contained many unique and invaluable specimens, and were the result of fifty years' accumulation.

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, 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 latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online 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.

Cooke Telescope Tales - Mr Maw and his two Cooke telescopes

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, 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.   

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Moses Holden and the comet of 1840

  Blackburn Standard Wednesday 4^th March 1840 

 

THE COMET 

To the Editor of the Blackburn Standard.

 

 Sir, —Will you have the goodness to insert in the Standard the following account of a comet which is now seen: it is written by Mr. Moses Holden, whose lectures many of your readers will remember, and appeared in the Preston papers of last Saturday:-

 

 " A second Comet has appeared this year, although the month of February is not yet out. This second is very small, and can only be seen with a good telescope. I saw it on the 23rd, it was little above the girdle of Andromeda, and did not look half large as the Nebula in that girdle, nor half as large as Encke's Comet. Its movement for the week along the girdle of Andromeda, as it passes the stars, is as follows,

 

Feb 1840  29    28     27    26    25    24   23

                  o       o       o     o      o      o     o   Comet.

                                                           Nu*            

                   Beta *                Mu*              0 Nebula

 

An equatorial telescope turned to right ascension, in time 1 hour and 15 minutes, and declination 35 deg,  5 min., will be near the place, and with a Comet eye-piece would soon find it this evening.

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - temporary observatory near Sydney in 1890

 Colonies and India Wednesday 21^st May 1890 

A temporary observatory is about to be established near Sydney for the purpose of carrying on astronomic photographic work in connection with a chart of the heavens about to be prepared by an Astro-Photo Committee charged by the Conference which met in Paris in 1887. The arrangement of the details has been allotted in zones to 19 observatories in the order of their latitude. Under this arrangement Sydney takes from 34° S. to 42° S., and Melbourne from 70' S. to the South Pole. 

 

H C Russell Sydney astronomer and Sydney observatory

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A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Repairs to the Madras Observatory in 1890

 Madras Weekly Mail Wednesday 5^th February 1890 

 

THE MADRAS OBSERVATORY

 

Mr. N. Pogson, C.L.E , Government Astronomer, in submitting an estimate of Rs. 2,772 for making certain repairs, reports an follows:

 

Herewith, I have the honor to submit, in duplicate, an estimate for necessary repairs of the Government Observatory, amounting to Rs 2,772, together with an accompanying report by H. Irwin, Esq., C.L.E the Consulting Architect to Government. The repairs have been much needed for some years past, but were deferred, as the transit circle could not then be spared without serious inconvenience. This fine instrument, which cost I, believe about £1,200, was under the very beams, the collapse of which was most imminent; so after Mr. Irwin’s  warning I lost no time in dismounting and removing the transit circle on a strong temporary wooden roller stand to a more secure part of the observatory, pending the repairs of the transit circle room. The telescope cones, bearing the eyepiece and objective, the counterpoises, damps, microscopes, &c., were all taken off on November 16th, assisted by workmen from Messrs. P. Orr and Sons; in consequence of the risk in case of heavy rain, the remainder of the instrument, weighing about 400 lb, was carefully removed bodily on Sunday, November 17th, and the building placed at the Consulting Architect's disposal for whatever emergent precautions in the way of propping and otherwise securing the roof he might consider necessary. During the repairs of the transit room the Madras mean time has to be determined by means of a small transit instrument by Dollond, formerly in use between 1858 and 1862, but with which the time in less certain within half a second than it is within half-a-tenth of a second with the transit circle. The early completion of the repairs is most desirable and advantage will be taken meanwhile for thorough cleaning up of the large instrument on the spot under my own immediate superintendence with such help as I can obtain from Messrs. P. Orr & Sons. The estimate has been sanctioned by government.

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A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - comet Coggia 1874

 Academy Newspaper Saturday July 11^th 1874

 

The comet discovered by Coggia on April 13 1874 has during the last fortnight rapidly increased in brightness and is now a conspicuous object in the northern sky. It will continue to get brighter, but unfortunately its motion is directly away from the pole, and as it is now beginning to move south rapidly, it will soon get below the northern horizon, so that probably it will not be visible to the naked eye, in the northern hemisphere at least, after July 15, when it will be nearly as bright as a first magnitude star, though very low down.

 It is possible, however, that its tail may be seen after the head has set, as was the case with the famous comet of 1843, Mr. Hind, who has devoted much attention to the present comet, considers that it may be seen in full daylight south of the sun with a powerful telescope about July 22, when it makes its nearest approach to the earth. The circumstance that the apparent path of this comet passes nearly through the sun’s place, coupled with Its very slow motion at first, has made it very difficult to compute its orbit; but theory and observation now agree well, and if observatories in the Southern hemisphere watch it carefully, no less than 200° of its orbit will be fixed, and we can then determine whether it is likely ever to visit us again.

The striking feature of this comet in the telescope is its remarkably bright planetary nucleus, from each side of which a fan of light shoots out transverse to the tail. The spectrum of this nucleus, as found by M. Royet (since confirmed by Mr. Lockyer and at Greenwich), is continuous, indicating a glowing solid or liquid, and therefore supporting the theory that it is a meteor stream. The coma and tail which form the usual parabolic envelope give the characteristic spectrum of carbon consisting of three bright nebulous bands, but what is the form under which the carbon exists remains an interesting question which it is to be hoped that Mr. Huggins will resolve. The tail shows strong radial polarisation.

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Cooke telescope tales - Exhibition of the Phonograph in York

 At this time of year Christmas music is being played everywhere, but a long time ago before music was available online or on a CD there was the phonograph or record player as it would become known was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison.

On the 17^th December 1878 the first phonograph to be seen in York was exhibited at the Kenrick Rooms, Spen Lane in York by Messrs T Cooke and Sons. Permission had been obtained by Cooke and Sons from the London Stereoscopic Company who had purchased the British patent from Mr Thomas Edison the inventor. 

The phonograph was explained by Mr Cox-Walker of Cooke and Sons. Briefly the phonograph consists of a brass cylinder, around which turns a spiral grove. The operator speaks into a mouthpiece upon a thin diaphragm, exactly like a telephone, to which a metal point is attached. The cylinder is covered with tin foil, and the point being in connection, and the handle turned while the operator is speaking, the point runs in the groove and makes several indentations in the tin foil corresponding to the vibrations of the diaphragm caused by the voice. On turning the reverse way the sounds are reproduced, the indentations in the tin foil, acting upon the metal point, causing the diaphragm to vibrate and communicate its motion to the air. 

The singing is very distinct, but the reproduced words of a speaker are somewhat thick, though the result is marvellous in the extreme. Two instruments were exhibited, one working by clock work and the other by hand. By the former the tone is reproduced more correctly, owing to the greater regularity in the turning of the instrument.   

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - S Delphinus in 1865

 

Astronomical Register January 1866 

Mr Baxendell read a communication on the variable star S Delphinus, at the meeting of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. On the 9^th November 1865. A maximum brightness occurred on the 9^th August 1865, magnitude 8.9, the mean period being 332 days, and the minimum equalling the magnitude 13.5. 

Mr Baxendell’s observations were confirmed in a great measure by Mr G Knott of Cuckfield. The colour iof the star is reddish, and is more intense at the minimum.

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, 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 latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online 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.

Cooke Telescope Tales - Accident at the Cooke factory

On December 28^th 1866 the son of Mr W Tindall printer of Fulford Road, York an apprentice with Messrs Cooke and Sons Opticians, of this city, lost his right thumb which was taken completely off by a portion of the machinery on the works, whilst he was engaged in his ordinary occupation. 

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - spectra of comets

 

Nature January 8^th 1874

On the spectra of Comets

Here is a summary of comet spectra by H Vogel published in Poggendorffs Annalen

I will now give a summary of all the observations known to me of cometary spectra. 

1.      The first comet examined by spectrum analysis is the Comet I. 1864. Donati found its spectrum to consist of three bright bands, which (if one may judge from the figure in Astr Nachr No. 1488) do not  coincide with those of the hydrocarbon spectrum.

2.      Huggins and Secchi observed Temple’s Comet I. 1866, and got from it a weak continuous spectrum, in which Secchi saw three bright lines, Huggins only one. The line seen by both was the brightest, and situated in the middle between b and F of the solar spectrum; accordingly no coincidence with the hydrocarbon spectrum.

3.      In the spectrum of Comet II. 867, the continuous spectrum was relatively so strong that Huggins found it difficult to detect bright lines. “Once of twice”, he says “I suspected the presence of two or three bright lines, but of this observation I was not certain. The prismatic observation of this faint object, though imperfect, appears to show that this small comet is probably similar in physical structure to comet I.1866” In this case again probably no hydrocarbon.

4.      Brorsen’s Comet I. 1868 was observed by Huggins and Secchi. Both observed three zones of light; The middle one being the brightest, and lying in the green; while its brightest part was somewhat less refrangible than the brightest line of the air spectrum. From this observation, and the determination of the position of the other two faint bands, it appears that the comet spectrum was neither similar to that of nitrogen, nor to the hydrocarbon spectrum.

5.      Winnecke’s Comet II.1868, was also observed by Huggins and Secchi. The measurements and direct comparisons of Huggins gave an agreement of the cometary spectrum with that of carbon in olefiant gas. From Secchi’s measurements it appears that the sharply defined side of the middle band (towards the red end), nearly coincided with the line group b of the solar spectrum; at which part also the beginning of the middle band of the spectrum of hydrocarbon id situated.

6.      Comet I. 1870 was observed by Wolf and Rayet; the spectrum consisted of three bright bands, whose position, however, was not accurately determined.

7.      Comet I. 1870 was observed by Huggins and myself. Huggins found three bands, I only two. The measurements of the bands observed in common agree well; the spectrum appears to be identical with that of Brosen’s Comet.

8.      Comet III. 1871 (Encke) was observed by Huggins three days, by Young four and by myself six; it showed, as usual a spectrum of three bands. Huggins thought this agreed with the hydrocarbon spectrum ; while young and I observed no such coincidence.

9.      Comet IV. 1871 (Tuttle), examined only by me, gave a spectrum of three bands. Accurate measurements of their positions showed no coincidence with the hydrocarbon spectrum.

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A little ramble through Equuleus the Little Horse

A small constellation situated between the head of Pegasus the Flying Horse and Delphinus the Dolphin. Equuleus is one of the original 48 constellations listed by the astronomer Ptolemy, it’s the second smallest constellation, only Crux the Southern Cross is smaller.

In Greek mythology it is sometimes associated with Celeris which means swiftness or speed and is the smaller brother to Pegasus.

The Arab astronomers called the constellational Kitah al Faras which means part of a horse. Another Arab name is Al Faras al Thani which means the second horse alluding either to its small size, or to the time when it was adopted as a constellation.

The Hindu astronomers referred to it as Acvini which means the horseman.

There is only one star bright enough to be easily seen with the naked eye and that is alpha or Kitalpha which comes from the Arab name for the whole constellation. Kitalpha has a magnitude of 3.9 and is 186 light years away, it’s a G class giant star and is cooler than the Sun with a temperature of around 5,000 degrees. The Sun has a temperature of 5,800 degrees.

There are no bright galaxies or nebula in Equuleus.

                                                       www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - New Cooke telescope for Tyemouth in 1858

On the 20th December 1858 Dr Matthews from Tynemouth ordered a telescope of 4 inch aperture, plus a polished brass tube, a finder, four eyepieces, sun prism and dark glasses, two brass clamps for fixing to stand.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Leyton Observatory records 1862-1864

 Astronomical Register January 1866

 

Leyton Astronomical Observations

  A quarto volume of about 120 pages has been published by the firm of Williams and Norgate, containing the observations made at Mr Joseph Gurney Barclay’s private observatory at Leyton in Essex. During the years 1862, 1863 and 1864. 

The introduction gives a description of the telescope in use by Mr Barclay and his assistant, and the remainder of the book is occupied with tables of observations on certain double stars in Struve’s Catalogue, and on 30 minor planets, as well as the right ascension and declinations of stars used in the latter case and a list of the comparison stars. 

The comet observations during the three years are not the least valuable part of the volume, which has been brought out in a spirited way, and which will be welcomed by Mr Barclay’s brother Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society.

www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Andromedid meteors seen from the Caribbean Sea in 1891

 Mr Boraston on the steamer Don on the night of November 23/24 1891 made observations of Andromedid meteors while crossing the Caribbean Sea from location Long 72’ West Lat 17’ North, the sky was very clear with no Moon 

Mr Boraston states that the heavens were alive with meteors. Several were seen as faint, swift and long tracked and for 6 hours the average number of meteors was estimated at 108 per minute or 6,480 per hour.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, 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 latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online 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.

 

Cooke Telescope Tales - drawings on Venus 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.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - French Astronomical Literature

 Astronomical Register January 1866 

We observe and announce Le journal de ciel: Astronomie pour tous .- This is a quarterly periodical, published at Paris, at a cost of one franc per number. It appears to be a magazine something of the character of our own. The editor is Professor J Vinot, and the office 26 rue Servandoni, Paris. We mention these particulars as possibly some of our readers may like to make its acquaintance.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

Cooke Telescope Tales - Will Hay observes nova Puppis in 1942

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.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

A little ramble through Draco the Dragon

 Draco was known as a dragon and features in many ancient legends, to some ancient Greek astronomers, for example Eratosthenes and Hipparchus, in the ancient Greek poem The Shield Of Hercules with the two dogs (Sirius and Procyon), Lepus the Hare, Orion the Hunter and Perseus as The scaly horror of a dragon, coiled full in the central field.  It was also described as the snake snatched by Minerva from the giants and whirled to the sky, where it became Sidus Minervae at Bacchi or the monster killed by Cadmus at the fount of Mars, whose teeth he sowed for a crop of armed men.

In Persia the constellation was seen as Azhdeha, the man-eating serpent, and in early Hindu mythology it was seen as an alligator.

Babylonian records suggest the constellation near the pole might be a snail drawn along the tail of a dragon, while other sources suggest that it might be Sir or a snake. However other Babylonian sources suggest that it is the dragon Tiamat overcome by the kneeling sun god Izhdubar who we would recognise as Hercules whose foot is upon it.

To the Assyrians the dragon represents Hea or Hoa the third god of the Assyrian triad also known as Kim- mut.

The Chaldeans saw it as a much longer constellation than we see today, winding downwards and in front of Ursa Major the Great Bear. It still today almost encloses Ursa Minor the small bear.

The Egyptians saw the stars as part of a hippopotamus and are shown on the planisphere of Denderah and the walls of Ramesseum at Thebes. It is said that at one time the Egyptian called Draco Tanem.

The Arab astronomers referred to the constellation as Al Tinnin and Al Thuban which comes from the Greek Draco. It was also called the poisonous dragon this is because a comet was seen in Draco and astrologers thought it had spread poison across the world. It appears that a great comet was seen from China in 1337 in the constellation of Yuen Wei which identifies with some of the stars in Draco. This could be the comet the astrologers were referring to.

The dragon is closely identified with China but the dragon that was in the Chinese zodiac is now part of the stars that form our constellation of Libra. To the Chinese Draco was Tsi Kung the Palace of the Heavenly Emperor.

The Arab astronomers knew Thuban as the ‘Large Snake’ and it was the North Star when the great pyramids were built in Egypt around 4,000 years ago. In theory being labelled as alpha it should indicate that Thuban the brightest star in Draco, however at magnitude 3.6 it is only the 7^th brightest star in the constellation. I have no idea why this is the case. Thuban is an A class star with a surface temperature of over 10,000 degrees which is much hotter than the Sun. Thuban is just over 300 light years away.

When Johannes Bayer introduced the Greek alphabet system to the constellations in 1603, he considered Thuban to be of the 2^nd magnitude, the brightest star Draco. In his classification the brightest star in a constellation is alpha followed by beta all the way to omega the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Early star catalogues produced in the 1600s or even earlier suggested it was brighter than we see it today. This was mentioned by Sir John Herschel who was the son of William Herchel who discovered the planet Uranus in 1781and saw Thuban at the same brightness that we see the star as today.  

The position of the North Star changes in time due to the wobbling of the Earth. It takes the Earth around 26,000 years to wobble once meaning that during this period the North Pole of the Earth will describe a circle in the sky.  This process is called Precession. Around the year 14,000 the bright star Vega in Lyra will be the North Star.

Today we have Polaris in Ursa Minor as the North Star. People in the southern hemisphere are not so fortunate now as there is no bright star to mark south pole. Thuban is 303 light years away and shines at magnitude 3.6 and is an A0 giant class star. It is hotter than the Sun.

The great astrological and astronomical work compiled for the first Sargon king, of Akkad referred to the star as Tir An na, or the Life of Heavens as it then marked the position of the North Star.

In China Thuban was known as Yu Choo or the Right Hand Pivot.

Beta or Alwaid which is Arabic for The Mother Camels an alternative Arab name is Al Rakis or The Trotting Camel. Alwaid is 380 light years away and has a magnitude of 2.8 and is a G class giant star with a surface temperature of around 5,000 degrees.

The brightest star in Draco is gamma or Eltanin which means The Great Serpent, the star has a magnitude of 2.2 is 154 light years away and is a K class giant star with a surface temperature of about 3,900 degrees making it cooler than the Sun.

Delta or Al Tais which is Arabic for The Goat is a magnitude 3.0 star lying 98 light years away, it’s a G class giant star with a surface temperature of 4,600 degrees.

Iota or Al Dhiba which is Arabic for The Male Hyaena was known to the Chinese as Tso Choo the Left Pivot

One interesting and well-known deep sky object in Draco is The Cat’s Eye Nebula (NGC6543) it’s a planetary nebula that was discovered by William Herschel in 1786. It was Herschel who first used the term planetary nebula to describe these objects that looked a bit like a planet. Although its picture often appears in astronomy books it is faint and a telescope is needed to see it.

And for all the Harry Potter fans Draco is Draco Malfoy an enemy of Harry Potter.

 

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Cooke Telescope Tales - Copies of the John Franklin Adams photographs for sale in 1913

 Nature April 10^th 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.

 In 1913 the Royal Astronomical Society undertook to publish a small number of the Franklin Adams Charts. The 206 photographic plates covered the entire sky. Each plate covered an area 15 degrees by 15 degrees.  

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 2025 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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A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Schiaparelli and the Milan Observatory in 1873

Nature December 11th 1873

Signor Schiaparelli, Director the Milan Observatory, has been appointed Director of the Florence Observatory in place of the late Signor Donati.

The Florence Observatory which stands near Galileo’s Tower at Arcetri, is in every way superior to that of Milan, and we may look for considerable results from an astronomer who has already done so much with small opportunities.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - comet Winnecke 1869

 Academy, Saturday 13^th November 1869 

 Winnecke's Comet.

Huggins’ spectral analysis of this comet is well known, and his conclusion that the light of this comet is produced by incandescent carbon vapour. The experiments of Watts—published in the October Number of The Philosophical Magazine—seem to prove that this spectrum is really that of carbon: and further, that the temperature of the carbon producing it must be between 1500° C. and 2500° C. If no other explanation of this comet-spectrum can be found, and if the temperature of cosmical space may really reach 1500° C., important changes must be made in the theories of the universe as at present accepted.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, 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 latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England. 

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online 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.

 

 

Cooke Telescope Tales - Occultation of delta3 Taurus observed from Liverpool in 1870

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. 

An occultation occurs when the Moon passes in front of a star blocking out the light from the star. Very occasionally a planet will pass in front of a star. This happened in 1977 when Uranus passed in front of a star leading to the discovery of its system of rings. 

According to Joynson the Moon passed over 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.

                                                       www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - Thomas Cook was allowed to vote in 1837

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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A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Columbia College Observatory in 1873

 Nature July 3^rd 1873

We learn that there has been erected a small observatory on the Columbia (U.S.) College campus for educational and we hope, also for scientific purposes. The observatory is furnished with an equatorial, accompanied by a seven-prism spectroscope by Clark, and a position micrometer, besides an altazimuth and a zenith telescope.

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Another ramble to the gamma quadrant - next blog on November 14th 2025

Many thanks to all the people who look at my blogs.

Just to let everyone know that I am back off on another rambling astronomer mission to the gamma quadrant, this means that there will be no blogs until Friday November 14th 2025

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - small observatory for Columbia College in 1873

 Nature July 3^rd 1873

We learn that there has been erected a small observatory on the Columbia (U.S.) College campus for educational and we hope, also for scientific purposes. The observatory is furnished with an equatorial, accompanied by a seven prism spectroscope by Clark, and a position micrometer, besides an altazimuth and a zenith telescope.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - comet of 1882 seen from India with a Cooke telescope

 The great comet of 1882 was first seen in September of that year and was observed and photographed by astronomers all around the world. This included from India. 

On September 25^th 1882 H Collett from Lahore, the Punjab, India observed the comet with a 4.5 inch Cooke telescope. At 04 hours and 50 minutes local time the comet was estimated to be about 14 degrees long and of unusual breadth. The borders of the tail appear much brighter that the central part.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - Cooke instruments were of the highest quality, but....

 Cooke Instruments were of the highest quality but by the 1920s with a slump in trade around the world for optical instruments Cooke’s were now discovering the penalty of making instruments too well, they did not need repairing!

 With this in mind in the late 1920s Cookes which by his time was trading as Cooke, Troughton and Simms undertook a major advertising campaign encouraging people who had brought equipment in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries to bring them back and have them repaired.  

The campaign was not just in the UK it was also global, and senior salesmen were sent to the various Cooke offices around the world to try to drum up extra business. It worked briefly but sadly for Cookes and other major industries around the world the Great Wall Street Crash in 1929 signalled the beginning of the Great Depression in the 1930s and the demand for optical instruments ceased almost overnight.

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A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - How to find Uranus in 1865

 Astronomical Register February 1865

 

Sir,- Some of your correspondents have asked for a diagram for the stars near the planet Uranus is at presented situated, I herewith send you one, which I trust will meet the requirements of amateurs. 

To find Uranus.- With the naked eye direct your attention to the constellations Taurus and Gemini. Having noted the stars beta and zeta at the tips of the bull’s horns, and mu, nu and gamma at the feet of the twins, proceed (see diagram) along an imaginary line for my Gemini toward beta Taurus, passing by eta Gemini 4^th mag. To No.1 Gemini full 5^th mag. Between this latter star and beta Taurus will be perceived a triangle of 5^th mag stars, viz: 132, 136 and 139 Taurus. Now the planet Uranus will be found situated a little below a line drawn from 1 Gemini to 132 Taurus, the lowest of the triangle.

Uranus being generally invisible to the naked eye, the telescope must be pointed towards the place indicated in order to see it. Perhaps on first trial it will not be easily found and the star 132 will be in the field; if so this will be readily known by its having a small 7^th mag star near to it. Before leaving this star note well its apparent brightness, for Uranus is not quite so bright, and can easily be found by pointing the telescope a little s.f. 

Having got Uranus in the field, unless you have a large and good telescope, you will only see a dull looking object, and will not be able satisfactory to make out its disc. If now you show it to some of your friends not versed in planetary lore, you will most likely be greeted with “Oh! Is that all?” and excite feelings, if not expressions of scepticism as to its being a planet. 

Unless possessed of a large telescope, the best way of observing Uranus is to use, not a telescope, but far better, a binocular opera or field glass. With such an instrument, Uranus can be found and shown almost instantly. Having other stars in the field at the same time with it, its planetary nature is made palpable in a week, by its varied its position with regard to its neighbours.

 On the 2^nd March when Uranus will be stationary after retrograding, it will be found by the field glass to be below the triangle of 5^th mag stars, and above a small triangle of 7^th mag lying between it and zeta Taurus. 

 

I am, Sir your obedient servant, T M Simkiss

Waterloo Road Wolverhampton

January 16^th 1865

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A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Leverrier and the French National Observatory in 1873

 Nature,  June 19^th 1873

M Leverrier has entered on his new office of Director of the French National Observatory. The Observatory Board has decided on his formal proposition that they shall co-operate with the Bureau des Longitudes for taking a new measure of the French arc from Dunkerque to Oran via Spain. Commander Perrier will be the chief geodesist for that most important survey.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

The Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio

 Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, 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 latest news from the astronomical societies in the north of England.

 

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio live online 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.

Cooke Telescope Tales - 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.

                                                         www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

Cooke Telescope Tales - Leeds Astronomical Society visits Cookes in 1920

On Saturday afternoon October 9^th 1920 members of the Leeds Astronomical Society of which Mr David Booth is president and others visited the works of Messrs Cooke and Sons Ltd Bishophill, York where an interesting and instructive time was spent. 

During their tour around the works they saw how lens are ground down and polished and how various instruments are used and adjusted. 

Among the other things pointed out were various parts of the 18 inch telescope for Brazil. In the show room there were various telescopes including one made by Mr Cooke in 1850. 

The visitors were surprised to find that in York there were such large and extensive works equipped with the various modern and accurate machines capable of making the most precise scientific instruments for the exacting demands of today.

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk