During April and May 1841 a course of 6 popular lectures on astronomy were give at the mechanics Institute at Driffield in the East Riding of Yorkshire by Dr Henderson of the Liverpool Observatory. Dr Henderson was the author of various works on astronomy, geography and navigation.
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In Warsaw in 1898 an observatory was established in an observatory a short distance north west of the university there. The observatory had originally belonged to the Polish amateur astronomer Jan Walery Jedrzejewicz (1835-1887) at Plonsk in central Poland.
Among the equipment in the observatory was a 5 inch Thomas
Cooke & Sons telescope. Among the objects that Jedrzejewicz observed were
double stars, sunspots, lunar occultations and the positions of 16 comets.
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Musca (Latin for "the fly") is a small
constellation in the deep southern sky. The constellation can be located just
below the Southern Cross. It cannot be seen from Britain.
It was one of 12
constellations created by Petrus Plancius from the observations of Pieter
Dirkszoon Keyser and Frederick de Houtman, and it first appeared on a celestial
globe 35 cm (14 in) in diameter published in 1597 (or 1598) in Amsterdam by
Plancius and Jodocus Hondius.
The first depiction
of this constellation in a celestial atlas was in Johann Bayer's Uranometria of
1603. It was also known as Apis (Latin for "the bee") for 200 years.
Lacaille in 1776 renamed it to Musca Australis, the Southern
Fly, to its then counterpart the now discarded constellation of Musca
Borealis. The Australis part has now been discarded.
Alpha has a brightness of magnitude of 2.7 and is a class B2 star lying 315 light years away.
Beta lies 340 light years away and has a magnitude of 3.0
its a B2 class star.
Gamma is a B5 class star with a brightness of magnitude 3.9
lying at a distance of 325 light years.
Delta has a brightness of magnitude 3.7 and is a K2 class
giant star at a distance of 91 light years.
There is one deep sky object of interest this is NGC 5189 or
the Spiral Planetary Nebula. It was discovered by James Dunlop on July 1st
1826 from Paramatta in Australia.
NGC 5189 is 1,780 light years from earth and with a magnitude of 8.2 it will
need a good pair of binoculars or a small telescope to see it.
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In the Carter Observatory in Wellington New Zealand is a 9.75 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope that has a wonderful history.
It was originally made for Edward Crossley of Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1867 as a 9.3 inch telescope, it was used extensively by Crossley and his assistant Joseph Gledhill, with important observations of Mars and Jupiter being made. The 9.3 inch was also used in double star measurements and lead to be of the most important early catalogues on double stars by Crossley, Gledhill and James Wilson of Rugby.
In 1896 a new photo visual lens was place in the telescope tube, it was slightly small at 9 inches. On the death of Crossley in 1905 and the retirement of Gledhill the telescope was sold to the Rev David Kennedy on the north island of New Zealand at Meeanee, where an observatory was opened in 1907.
By 1924 the telescope had been sold again to the Wellington City Council and was installed in a tin shed rather than a proper observatory due to a lack of money.
However a local farmer and business man Charles Rooking Carter left in his will in 1896 a sum of £2240 to build an observatory. The observatory was built in Wellington and opened in December 1941, however due to the war very little happened until 1945.
Since then the Cooke telescope has been extensively used and was retired from research work in 1971. In 1975 it was discovered that the chemicals inside the lens were unstable and over time would damage the lens. In 2001 a new lens this time 9.75 inches was installed.
Today the telescope is still used
for public open evenings and is a testament to the telescopes built by Thomas
Cooke was made in 1867 and is still working today.
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Arthur Samuel Atkinson was born in Hurworth, Durham in 1833 and moved to New Zealand in 1853. He fought during the Taranaki war in 1860 and eventually he entered the legal profession but had a great love of astronomy.
In 1882 he was asked by the Royal Society of London to be an official observer of the Transit of Venus. To do this he obtained a 5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope which I believe he purchased second hand. He also used it to observe the total eclipse of the Sun in 1885.
The telescope was housed in an observatory in Nelson which is on the south island of New Zealand and was originally called the Atkinson Observatory. In 1982 a newer building was opened and in 2008 the observatory was renamed the Cawthron Atkinson Observatory after the wealthy benefactor Thomas Cawthron.
The Cooke 5 inch telescope was officially retired from
active use in 2017 and was placed in a new Cawthron Trust Institute building
for people to look at. The Cooke was replaced by a celestron 14 inch telescope.
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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.
Wallington & Carshalton Herald Saturday 9th July 1887
WANTON MISCHIEF ! A DISGRACE TO WALLINGTON.
To the Editor of The Herald
Sometime last night my Observatory was broken into and the equatorial astronomical telescope mounted there was completely ruined, the object glass, good one by Wray, was stolen. and all the adjusting and clamping screws removed and taken away.
These things, of course, have little or no value in themselves apart from the instrument, but without them the whole machine with all its lenses and accessories, which I kept for greater safety in the house. is utterly useless. Such wanton mischief ought somehow to be exposed.
I regret to say that this is not the first time I have had reason to complain, for hardly a month has passed during the year without some damage being done to the observatory itself; it is of very light structure. made of wood and covered with the Patent Willesden Card and has successfully stood the heavy snow falls and storms of the past winter, but has not been proof against the sticks and stones which has frequently been sent through it.
The observatory stands in but perhaps too near the footpath across the lavender field from which the mischief has been done.
I never expect that my loss can be replaced, it would be no easy matter to get the missing parts, probably scattered in the lavender field re made, and a new instrument, even if I could afford to buy it, could never have the associations and interesting early study.
But what can be said for this wanton spirit of destruction, which would have been counted a disgrace, even by the most uncivilised races of the world.
However let the people of Wallington know what sort they
have in their midst to deal with, and be on their guard, for what can be safe?
I am yours faithfully
John H Haslam
Penden Wallington, July 5th
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In July 1867 the polymath Thomas Bazeley purchased a 6 inch telescope from Thomas Cooke & Sons, the telescope cost £365 (today this would be over £45,000) . In 1877 Bazeley donated the telescope to Joseph Baxendell.
Baxendell was a prolific variable star observer and in fact discovered around 20 new variable stars, including the nova T Corona Borealis in 1866, this would later become known as the Blaze Star because it went novae again in 1846.
This 6 inch Cooke would allow him to continue his variable
star work. Bazley also supplied the timber structure for the telescope.
Baxendell renamed his house at 14, Liverpool Road, Birkdale, The Observatory.
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Kilpatrick & Co, 2 Northampton Square, London are listed as merchants, what is a little confusing is that at the same address is Peter Kilpatrick. I don’t know if he was related in any way he was a jeweller. He also had a branch in Melbourne, Australia.
The following instruments were ordered.
20.01.1866 3.5 inch Telescope mounted on a tall
tripod. with zonal and vertical motions
11.04.1867 Solar eyepiece, sliding wedge of dark glass
21.09.1867 4 inch Telescope mounted on tripod with
zonal and vertical motions
20.11.1867 3.5 inch astronomical telescope, 4 feet 6 inch or
4 feet 9 inch length with finder and dew cap. No stand. 4 eyepieces. Adapted
for viewing nebulae- to have wide field eyepiece mag x25.
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On 16.11.1866, W U Jones, The Warren, Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire ordered a first rate transit instrument . Later in 1867 he ordered equipment for his observatory including 4 friction wheels and tramway, 10 feet 4.5 inches inside diameter, wheels not more than 8 inches diameter.
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If you think that finding a Unicorn on the Earth wait until you look for one in the night sky.
A faint but fascinating constellation between Orion and
Canis Minor. Jakob Bartsch, a German
mathematician and son in law of Johannes Kepler brought it into general use on
his star chart of 1624, although there are references to such a constellation
in this position in earlier works by astronomers. there are some reports that
in 1564 it was regarded as “The other horse south of the Twins and the Crab”.
There are even earlier references to the constellation being represented on
Persian star globes.
Its location in the Milky Way ensures that it is well
stocked with nebulae and clusters.
The three stars Betelgeuse in Orion, Procyon in Canis Minor
and Sirius in Canis Major form what astronomers call the Winter Triangle. The
Unicorn is found within this triangle.
Alpha has a magnitude of only 3.9 and lies 148 light years away. It is a G class giant star.
The brightest star is beta at magnitude 3.7, however beta is
a system of three stars and under the very best of conditions you might be able
to make them out. A pair of binoculars will easily show the three stars. Beta
lies at a distance of about 700 light years.
With the Milky Way flowing through Monoceros the area is
very rich in faint stars also there are various clusters of stars.
M 50 is an obscure open cluster in an equally obscure constellation
If your sky is very clear and dark you might just glimpse it. Its 3,000 light
years away. There are over 500 stars.
NGC 2232 an open cluster centred around the star 10
Monoceros. Its brightness is magnitude 4.0 and lies at a distance of 1,600
light years.
NGC 2237 the Rosette Nebula magnitude 9.0 and lies at a
distance of 5,000 light years. It is a very complicated region which contains
NGC 2238, 2239,2244 and 2246. It is an area often photographed by astronomers.
The whole complex of nebula covers an area of 130 light years.
NGC 2261 Hubble’s Variable Nebula which is illuminated by
the variable star R Monocertis which varies between 10 to 12. It is so named
because it was the first object photographed by Edwin Hubble when the Palomar
200 inch telescope was used for the first time. It is mag 9.0 and lies at a distance of
2,500 light years.
NGC 2264 The Christmas tree or Cone nebula Magnitude 4.0 and
2,600 light years away inside the nebula is a the bright luminous star S
Monocerotis or 15 Monocerostis which varies very slightly S has a magnitude of
4.6
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I have come across another astronomer who purchased a small Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope.
In this case it is J. Hullett of Clarence Lodge, Purbrook,
Cosham, Hampshire who in 1868 purchased
a 2.75 inch refractor, which I would assume would have been mounted on a
small tripod.
Nature March 16th 1876
Miss Sheepshanks has presented to the Royal Astronomical
Society 200 volumes of works on astronomy, some of them very rare; Lord Lindsay
has presented a large and valuable collection of the late Mr Carrington’s MSS
on the subject of sun spots.
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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.
In 1903 Thomas Cooke & Sons of York supplied a 4.5 inch telescope to the Government Observatory in Calcutta, India. The head of the observatory was Mr Evershed, Attached to the telescope was a 5 inch Camera also supplied by Cookes.
The
telescope was mounted on a Cooke iron pillar which were housed in a shed. This
shed was mounted on wheels and rails that allowed it to be moved when the
telescope was to be used.
The University of Toronto’s David Dunlap observatory at Richmond Hill near Toronto, Canada today houses a 74 inch Grubb Parsons reflector that was installed in 1935. However there was a much older observatory in Toronto.
This was the Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory
at the University of Toronto which
housed a 6 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope that was installed in
1880. The Cooke was used in particular for the study of sun spots in
conjunction with magnetic measurements made at the observatory. I believe that
the Cooke may have been used until around 1910.
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The “dog days of summer” is a phrase used to describe the hot and humid days of summer. It can be traced back thousands of years. It refers to the dates from July 3 through August 11, which is 20 days prior and 20 days after the star Sirius rises and falls in conjunction [sharing the same spot in our sky] with the sun. Sirius was known as the “Dog Star,” because it is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog).
Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. The name Sirius
comes from an ancient Greek word for “scorching” or “glowing.”
Since Sirius is in conjunction with the sun on July 23, the
dog days of summer center around then. The dog days of summer fall between July
3 to August 11, and that’s when we have many of our warmest days in the
Northern Hemisphere.
Now we often have very hot days before or after July 3 to
August 11 however the legend of the dog days has survived.
Nature March 16th 1876
Comet 1840
In Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 2079, Dr Kowalczyk, of
Warsaw, publishes I his investigation of a definitive orbit for the comet
discovered at Berlin by prof Galle, the present Director pf the observatory at
Breslau, on the 25th January 1840.
This comet which was last observed at Kremsmunster on the 1st
April, had already been made the subject of extensive calculation b y
Professors Plantamour and Loomis. The former in 1843, discussing his own series
of careful observations taken at Geneva, found (Astron Nach, No. 476) that a
parabolic orbit represented the comet’s course within the probable limits of
error of observation; on including the series taken at Berlin he found the most
probable orbit to be an ellipse, but of great eccentricity to which little weight was considered to attach.
Loomis on his side, taking into account the effect of
planetary perturbation during the
interval of the comet’ visibility, also found an ellipse, but with a mote
moderate eccentricity, the period of revolution being about 2,400 years; the
sum of the squares of the errors of the
ellipse is diminished to one third the amount with the best determinable
parabola.
Loomis’s investigation will be found in the Transactions of
the American Academy vol viii; his orbits are not in the included in the
extensive collection in Dr Carl’s “Repertorium der Cometen-Astronomie”, a work
which notwithstanding, its great utility
to the student of this branch of science, is yet not complete or free
from numerical errors.
Kowalczyk starts with the parabolic elements obtained by Plantamour in 1843, comparing them with the whole course of observations. After introducing the corrections for aberrations and parallax , and the earth’s position from Leverrier’s tables, instead of those from the tables of Carlini used by previous computers and by the usual method of equations of conditions for ten normal places, he finally arrives at an elliptical orbit, very closely agreeing with observations, and showing a period of revolution of 3,789
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years.
On July 6, Earth will be at aphelion, the furthest point from the Sun it can reach on its yearly orbit. At aphelion, Earth will be 94,502,963 million miles (152, 087,778 million km) from the Sun. Earth was at perihelion, its closest point to the Sun, during January, when it was only 91,403 ,640 million miles (147,099,900 million km) away.
The seasons are caused not by how close Earth is to the Sun, but by which hemisphere is tilted towards it. In July the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, so we have summer, while in January, when Earth is closest to the Sun, the northern hemisphere is tilted away from it and we have winter.
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A report from 1889 says that Baron Albert von Rothschild’s observatory within the precincts of his palace is a bijou. A splendid equatorial by Thomas Cooke & Sons with a 9 inch aperture, to which the Baron has fitted notions of his own. Observations of double stars are made by him, and astronomers may in a year or two receive published results. Dr Palisa is the Baron’s court astronomer.
Another constellation introduced by Lacaille in the 1750s. This group represents another of the scientific instruments that Lacaille placed in the southern sky. Sadly as with so many of his new constellations Microscopium is little more than a filler between Sagittarius and Piscis Austrinus.
There are no bright stars in Microscopium. Even the mere hint of haze or moonlight means that the stars in Microscopium will not be seen.
The brightest stars are gamma at magnitude 4.7, which lies
at a distance of 225 light years and is a G class giant star.
Epsilon also has a magnitude of 4.7 and is an A class star
lying 166 light years away.
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.
Ernest Wunderlich at the Wyone Observatory, Port Hacking which is about 14 miles south of Sydney observed the occultation of Saturn by the moon on March 14th 1917. The telescope used was a 4.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Sons telescope.
The sky was at the commencement of occultation was, owing to
slight haze, rather more luminous than usual, and this caused the loss of the
“inner edge of ring” and “first limb” of the ball at ingress. At egress the
definition was all that could be desired, but the first edge of ring was
decidedly outside the Moon’s illuminated edge before it was noticed, and thus
was “lost”.
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Nature February 24th 1876
The Saturnian Satellite Hyperion
Observations of this faint object made with the 26 inch
refractor of the U S Naval Observatory on forty nights between 1875 June 16th
and November 25, appear in No. 2076 of the Astron Nach.
It is stated that the observations were generally made with
difficulty. Pro Asaph Hall acknowledges
his obligations to Mr Marth for his ephemerides of the satellites of Saturn, by
which he has endeavoured to facilitate
identification of these objects, and which could only have been prepared at an
expenditure of much tome and trouble.
James Nangle at Marrickville in New South Wales using a 6.25 inch telescope which I have recently discovered was a Thomas Cooke rather than a Thomas Cooke and Sons telescope which means it was made before 1857, observed Mars in 1909.
He described the darkish areas to have a greenish tinge,
with the Mars Cimmerium and Syrtis Major looking like the tops of trees in an
Australian valley when seen from the top of a mountain. The northern snows were
also well seen. There appeared none of the canals that had been drawn by
Schiaparelli or Lowell.
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Most people will have heard of the supermoon but far fewer people will know of the micromoon.
The Moon takes around one month to orbit the Earth. Its normal distance from us is 239,000 miles. A micro moon occurs when the Moon is more than 250,000 miles away. A supermoon is when the Moon is less than 230,000 miles away. This is why a supermoon appears larger than normal, while a micromoon appears smaller. The discrepancy happens because the Moon does not orbit the Earth in a circle but in an ellipse or egg shape.
On June 29th we will have the last of the Micromoons for 2026. This will be the the micro Strawberry Moon.
Nature February 17th 1876
The Variable Star R Leporis
This highly coloured star, the variability of which was
detected by Schmidt in 1855, is calculated to be at maximum on the 28th
of the present month. The mean period appears to be about 438 days, 230 days
being occupied in passing from minimum to maximum, and 208 days from maximum to
minimum.
Probably the irregularities of variation which have been
suspected are to be mainly attributed to the difficulty attending comparison of
a star of such intensely red colour. With regard to the colour, however there
is something more thana suspicion that it has sensibly diminished in intensity
sine attention was first directed to it (Hind 1845 October)
We are almost wholly indebted to Schmidt, who makes such
excellent use of the favourable astronomical conditions under which he is
placed at Athens, for our knowledge of the law of variation in R Leporis.
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Alpha Centauri one of the leading double stars in the southern hemisphere was observed by G D Hirst using his 4.25 inch Cooke telescope and James Nangle using his 6.25 inch Cooke telescope in Australia in June and July 1906.
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A constellation introduced by the French astronomer Nicolas Lacaille in the 1750s. It is a southern hemisphere group and celebrates the Table Mountain at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa from where he observed the night sky.
It’s one claim to fame is that part of the Large Magellanic
Cloud strays from the neighbouring constellation of Dorado the Goldfish, over
the border into Mensa possibly reminding Lacaille of the cloud that frequently
covers the real Table Mountain.
Unfortunately, the constellation is very faint and
unimportant.
The brightest star is alpha which at only magnitude 5.1 can be masked by any mist or moonlight. Alpha is a G class star, 33 light years away.
www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
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.
Nature February 3rd 1876
A complete reduction and discussion of the observation of this comet, taken at Rome by Bianchini and Maraldi, does not afford indications of elliptical motion, as might be surmised to exist from the small inclination of the orbit to the ecliptic and the direct movement. In fact these observations appear to be by no means precise, and the differences from calculation inter se are too irregular to afford any hope of sensibly improving upon the orbit given by Burckhardt.
Considering the differences of right ascension between the
comet and com parison stars were taken by means of clocks, and the differences
of declination measured by a micrometer scale, the arc value of which was
determined by observation of the Sun’s diameter, rather better places might
have been looked for.
The comet was its least distance from the earth on the night
of April 19th.
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On November 5th / 6th 1907 Mr A B Cobham and Mr G D Hirst using a 4.5 inch Thomas Cooke & Son telescope in Australia saw a dark spot on Saturn. This was afterwards ascertained to be Titan.
They also both commented that they caught glimpse of the edge of the ring at flashes, the impression indicating the extreme fineness and delicacy of the rings when seen edgewise.
York Herald Thursday 22nd March 1877
Important Astronomical Observations by means of a York telescope
Strange news has been recently received from an Australian observatory (Adelaide). It might be described as revolutionising our ideas respecting the largest of the planets, were it not that the careful study of much older observations had already led the more advanced students of astronomy to adopt the theory which has now been demonstrated by direct observation.
During the last eight or none years the belief has been gaining ground that the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn are in a state of intense heat and enwrapped in atmospheres of enormous depth and density. In fact it may be said that according to the new theory we never see the actual body of either Jupiter or Saturn, but only the outermost surfaces of the cloud layers; the real surfaces lying, not a few miles, or a few hundred miles but several thousand miles below the cloud surface measured by astronomers.
It has been shown that all the phenomena presented by the two gas giants planets correspond with this theory, whereas not one in ten can be explained by the older theory.
Fortunately in the case of Jupiter, we have evidence we have evidence from the Adelaide Observatory where a fine (8 inch) telescope by T Cooke & Sons of York has been erected, and where a singular purity of air greatly assists astronomical observation, two practised observers (Mr Todd and Mr Ringwood) on two different occasions, both observing on each occasion saw the nearest of Jupiter’s satellites through the outer layer of the planet’s cloud laden atmosphere, which must, therefore, of necessity, be at least 2,000 miles in depth.
In his book ‘Flowers in the Sky’ Richard Proctor makes
references to this observation by Mr Todd and Mr Ringwood.
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Nature, January 20th 1876
Atlas 27 Pleiadum
A very interesting observation was made at Strasburg on the
occasion of the occultation of this star – a Struve’s difficillima – on the 7th
of the present month. As we recently stated, this star does not appear to have
been seen double since the last Dorpat observation in 1830. On the 7th
inst., however Herr Hartwig observing at Strasburg with an excellent Fraunhofer
of 42 lines aperture power 159, remarked that the star did not disappear
instantaneously ; after the principal mass of light had vanished there remained
a luminous point for about six tenths of a second, a circumstance which favours
the duplicity of the object notwithstanding the failure of recent efforts to
divide it.
It brings to our attention Burg’s observation of the
occultation of Antares 1819 April 13, when at emersion the star appeared to
suddenly increase from one of the sixth or seventh magnitude to one of the
first, a phenomenon no doubt attributable to the existence of the small
companion on the parallel, preceding the principal star (*Natrure, vol
xii,p308).
The next occultation of the Atlas – Pleiadum on February 3 ,
will not be visible in this country, but may be well observed in the United
States. The American ephemeris gives the time of immersion for Washington; at
the observatory of Hamilton College, Clinton, NY so actively conducted by Prof.
Peters, the immersion takes place at 11h 13m, and emersion at 12h 4m.
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A Partial solar eclipse of Sun May 28th 1900 was observed using the G J Newbegin 9 inch Cooke telescope with a power of 75 by Mrs Newbegin and Rev T E R Phillips using the projection method. The image produced was 4.2 inches in diameter.
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In 1896 the Rev J H Jenkinson of St Mary’s Vicarage, Reading, Berkshire described a series of sunspot drawings he had made between February and August of that year. He used a 4.5 inch Thomas Cooke of York telescope.
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A constellation dating back to ancient times Lyra represents a stringed instrument invented by Hermes and given by his half-brother Apollo to Orpheus. Although a small constellation it is a very prominent one. Its brightest star Vega is the 5th brightest star in the sky, and it is one of the summer triangle stars, the others being Altair in Aquila and Deneb in Cygnus.
The Greek poet and philosopher Aratos called it the Little
Tortoise thus going back to the legendary origin of the instrument from the
empty covering of the creature cast upon the dried tendon stretched across it.
The constellation had been associated with a bird; this
might go back to ancient India where it was seen as an Eagle or Vulture. While
in Akkadia it was the great storm bird Urakhga, although this has also been
associated with Corvus.
To the early Britons it was Talyn Arthur, that hero’s harp,
while to the Anglo Saxons it was Hearpe which Fortunatus of the 6th
century, the poet bishop of Poitiers called the Barbarians Harp.
To the Arab astronomers it was Al Nasr al Waki, the swooping
Stone Eagle of the Desert. Al Sufi was the only Arab astronomer to associate it
with Al Iwasz or a Goose.
Alpha or Vega which means the ‘Falling Eagle’ or the Harp Star. In Babylonian astronomy it was regarded as Dilgan the Messenger of Light.
At one time Vega was the pole star and the Akkadians called
it Tir-anna or The Life of Heaven, while the Assyrians called it Dayan- Same, The
Judge of Heaven, as having the highest seat in heaven. In Egypt when Vega
occupied the Pole Star position it was Ma’at the Vulture Star.
In around the year
14,000 AD Vega will become the North Star due to the precession of the Earth.
Vega is a magnitude 0.0 (zero) star. It is relatively close
at only 25 light-years from the Sun; it is an A class star with a surface
temperature of 9,200’C.
Beta or Sheliak which means ‘Lyra’ is an ellipsoidal
variable discovered in York in September 1784 by the deaf astronomer John Goodricke, the stars are so close
together that they are egg shaped due to the gravity of the two stars pulling
at each other. To the naked eye Sheliak appears as one star. The two stars
orbit each other every 12.9 days and the magnitude changes from 3.4-4.3.
Sheliak is 960 light years away and is a B class giant star.
Gamma or Sulufat which means ‘Turtle’ is the
second-brightest star with an apparent visual magnitude of 3.3 it lies 620
light years away and is another B class giant star.
Epsilon is the famous the double double star, epsilon 1
shines with a magnitude of 4.7 while epsilon 2 in 4.7. They are around 162
light years away. Both stars can be seen with the naked eye under good
conditions while of course binoculars will easily show both stars. A small
telescope or binoculars will reveal that each star itself is a double star.
Epsilon 1 and 2 are both A class stars hotter than the Sun.
M57 or The Ring Nebula is probably the most famous planetary
nebula lying between beta and gamma. M 57 is magnitude 8.8 and needs either
very good binoculars or a telescope to see it and it lies around 2,300 light
years away. Messier discovered it in 1779.
There is a meteor shower the Lyrids which appear around
April 21-22 with around 15 per hour. It is associated with Comet Thatcher which was discovered in 1861.
The Lyrid meteor shower has the distinction of being among
the oldest of known meteor showers. Records of this shower go back for some
2,700 years. The ancient Chinese are said to have observed the Lyrid meteors
falling like rain in the year 687 B.C.
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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.
W M Baxter used a 5 inch Cooke equatorial in Edinburgh to observe a series of occultations of stars during the partial eclipse of the Moon on the night of 16th-17th December 1899. He observed 10 stars before fog and cloud prevented further observations.
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On Wednesday June 17th at around 10.30 in the evening it will be possible to see Venus very close to the crescent Moon. As long as it is not cloudy.
Venus will be the very bright white dot just above the Moon. The pair will seem to be so close that it will look like they are kissing.
The crescent Moon will be low down in the north west the area of sky where the Sun has set. You can see this with the naked eye. You will not need binoculars or a telescope to see this event.
Nature November 11th 1875
The conferring of the Freedom of the City of London on Sir
George B Airy, the Astronomer Royal, and late President of the Royal Society,
which took place on Thursday last is, we believe, the first instance in which
that honour has been bestowed for scientific services unconnected with military
or engineering science.
In the civic speeches which accompanied the ceremony, great
stress was laid on Sir G B Airy’s service in connection with the Metric
Standard.
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BAA Journal May 1896
PRESENT ASPECT OF JUPITER
I am glad to be able to report that observing conditions generally have been very good with us since the beginning of last month, and that at least one other member besides myself has taken advantage of the good seeing to make drawings of Jupiter. I am unfortunately divorced from my observatory for some months, but have with me in the country an excellent 5-in. Cooke altazimuth as well as accurate time.
I have never hitherto prosecuted a careful and continuous study of the giant planet's surface, and confess to great surprise at the vast and rapid changes that become apparent. This especially struck me first in the case of the N. equatorial belt, the northern and equatorial components of which exhibited alternately dark masses and condensations, divided by white spots after intervals of only five Jovian rotations. On March 13 and 14 there were typical instances of this.
On March 26, 20h 40m, G.M.T., a faint wisp across the equator, was conspicuous, and next night, March 28, 2h 20m G.M.T., was invisible, while the equatorial region near the c.m. showed considerable change. Definition excellent, 4 to 5 on both occasions, power 200. The N. temperate area, however, has puzzled me most, for the three belts often seen have varied much both in visibility and latitude, while with exquisite definition on April 1, at 0h 20m G.M.T., the following portion seemed overlaid with vapour of a sage green tint, and the belts (2) were only faintly visible in their preceding parts,
The Red Spot has been well seen on several occasions of
almond shape, the f. end slightly more pointed than the p. Its tint seemed
uniform, and a very delicate brick red, like a faint stain. It is overlaid on
the S. side by the S. temperate belt, which is closely double through nearly
its whole extent, and f. from the centre of the Red Spot is much darkened and
sinuous. The great spot's preceding end was estimated on c.m. at 1h 15m G.M.T.,
April 1, and the following end on c.m. at 21h 52m 36s G.M.T. of same date. In
the transit of Satellite I. on February 22, observed at Waverley, near Sydney,
with my equatorial, the shadow must have been occulted by the satellite, which
is perhaps worthy of note.
WALTE R F. GALE .
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Nature November 4th 1875
The Observatory at Toulouse has purchased a telescope of 85
cm diameter, and 5 metres focal distance, at a cost of 1,200 francs. M.
Tissereand is head of the Toulouse Observatory.
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