Cooke Telescope Tales - TW Backhouse and comet Swift 1892

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

                                                         www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Uranus and Neptune in 1875

 Academy, Saturday 16^th October 1875

The Satellites of Uranus and Neptune.— Since the completion of the great Washington refractor of twenty-six inches’ aperture, it has been devoted to the observation of these objects, which are too faint for any but the very largest telescopes. Professor Newcomb, who made the micrometer measures, has discussed them in an appendix to the Washington Observations, arriving at the conclusion that the orbits of these satellites are all sensibly circular (being certainly less eccentric than those of the planets of our system), and that those of the Uranian system lie in one plane.

Only one satellite to Neptune has been detected, though a second was repeatedly looked for, and no trace of any satellites exterior to the four known members of the Uranian system has been seen, though Sir W. Herschel concluded there were six. From the excessive faintness of the four satellites of Uranus, Professor Newcomb considers that their masses can hardly exceed 1/15,000  of that of the planet, so that their mutual perturbations would be insensible, while the sun’s disturbing  effect is exceedingly small, and thus the problem of determining their motions becomes comparatively simple.

The chief importance of this problem is that it gives the masses of Uranus and Neptune more accurately than any other method, all that is required for this purpose being to know the greatest apparent distance of one of the satellites from its primary and the period of revolution. In this way Professor Newcomb finds the mass of Uranus to be 1/ 22,600  of that of the sun, a result which is probably true within 1/200 part , while the mass of Neptune is 1/19,400 .One element of uncertainty in these results is the chromatic aberration of the eye-piece used n 1873, the webs being illuminated by red light, while that of the satellites is greenish yellow, so that the web is not really on the satellite when it appears to be. The effect of this is that there is a difficulty in converting the measured distance into seconds of arc. Professor Newcomb has not been able to detect any markings on Uranus and can therefore form no conclusion as to the period of rotation, which is a matter of some interest.

                                                      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 - telescope for Brighton in 1857

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

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

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

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - satellites of Saturn in 1875

 Academy, Saturday 17^th July 1875

Satellites of Saturn.—ln the Astronomische Nachrichten, No. 2043, Mr. Marth gives an ephemeris of the satellites of Saturn, which will greatly facilitate observations of these objects, as they are very liable to be confused with small stars in the neighbourhood.

There is considerable uncertainty about the positions of the innermost satellite Mimas and the outermost lapetus, and no ephemeris is given for Hyperion, the last discovered, as trustworthy observations are wanting for this satellite. The places of the other five are tolerably correct, but observations are much wanted of this extremely interesting system about which so little is known, the mutual perturbations of the satellites and the effect of the ring being most important questions, which can only be solved by accumulated observations.

 With the view of facilitating these, Mr, Marth has given the approximate times of conjunction of the several satellites with the planet. Eclipses, occultations, and transits only occur when the earth is nearly in the plane of the ring (every fifteen years), except in the case of Titan, whose orbit is considerably inclined to the ring.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through Leo Minor the Lesser Lion

 The smaller Lion designated by Johannes Hevelius in 1687, located between Ursa Major and Leo. Leo Minor hardly merits a separate name as there are no bright stars. He designed 10 new constellations, and we still use 7 of them today.

There are some suggestions that the stars that form Leo Minor were once identified by the Arab astronomers as Al Thiba wa-Auladuha or the Gazelle and her young.

The brightest star is 46 Leo Minoris with a magnitude of 3.8, its an orange K class giant star lying at a distance of 95 light years.

                                                       www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - John Robertson of Coupar Angus 1830-1920

 John Robertson of Coupar Angus 1830-1920 owned a fine Thomas Cooke of York 3 inch refractor telescope. His interest in astronomy began in 1848 when he heard Dr Thomas Dick give a series of astronomical lectures.

 He spent many hours observing the sky, including sunspot observations and comets and meteors.  He was self educated and he had to fit all his observations of the sky around his work. He was employed by the Caledonian Railway. 

He sent many articles to newspapers including the Scotsman and some of the Dundee Daily newspapers. Among the astronomers he correspond with were Sir W.H. M. Christie, Richard A Proctor, Sir Robert Ball and Ralph Copeland. 

He was still using the 3 inch Cooke telescope as late as August 1917 to observe sunspots, with his advanced age his daughter had to help move and adjust the telescope.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Stars, Saturn and photographs

 Academy, Saturday 19^th June 1875

 

Royal Astronomical Society (Friday, June 11). Professor Adams, President, in the Chair.

A paper by Mr. Knobel was read, giving some results of measures of magnitudes of stars with his astrometer, described in a previous paper, the principle of the instrument being to reduce the aperture of the telescope by means of a variable triangular diaphragm till the star disappeared. Mr.Knobel  pointed out several discordances between his results and the magnitudes given by Argelander in his Uranometria, though those of the Bonn Durchmusterung agreed better.

 Mr, Marth called attention to approaching phenomena of the satellites of Saturn, the most important of which, however (those of Titan), would only be visible in Australia and in the United States, the period of revolution being very nearly sixteen sidereal days, so that occultations and transits of this satellite would take place at the same sidereal hour for many successive periods, and at these times Saturn would be below our horizon. Mr. Marth expressed a hope that the great Melbourne reflector might be used for these observations, and Mr. Russell promised that he would employ the 11-inch refractor of the Sydney Observatory for this purpose.

 Captain Abney, R.E., gave a description of his Diaphanometer, an instrument which he had devised primarily for measuring the opacity of photographic films after exposure to light under different conditions, and which he had since applied to other questions in photometry. In this instrument the collodion film was compared with a graduated wedge of smoke-coloured glass. Captain Abney also exhibited an ingenious form of spectroscope in which the brightness of any part of the spectrum of a star could be compared with that of the spectrum of a standard source of light, the two spectra being brought one above the other in the same field by means of reflection prisms.

Some other short papers of a purely technical character followed, after which a note by Mr. Proctor on “ Photography in the Transit of Venus” was read, to which Mr. Russell, Mr. De La Rue, and Mr. Christie replied, and Mr. Neison mentioned, as bearing on the question of the atmosphere of Venus (which  Mr Proctor had incidentally  referred to), that Professor Lymans had observed Venus as a bright ring five hours before the commencement of the late transit.

                                                     www.theramblingatsronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - transit of Mercury observed in 1878 from Peeblesshire

Robert Mathison of Innerleithen Peeblesshire observed the Transit of Mercury on May 6^th 1878 using a Thomas Cooke of York 4.1 inch telescope. 

The transit was seen from the ‘observatory’ no trace of the planet could be seen outside the disk of the Sun. A small group of sunspots were seen on the Sun close to the planet at 4.40 pm. 

One point that caught the attention of Mathison was that a bright white point of light which he followed until 5.30 pm when the Sun was covered by clouds. Other observers at this location confirmed the sighting of the bright white spot.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - sunspots observed from Thornton in Craven in early 1860s

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

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

                                                      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.

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - The star Lalande 19662 in Sextans in 1875

 Nature, May 13^th 1875

The star Lalande 19662 in Sextans-

Mr J E Gore, of Umballa, Punjab, directs attention to the probable variability of this star. It was observed by Lalande on April 10^th 1798 in “Histoire Celeste” p 330, where its magnitude is entered 4.5, as in the reduced catalogue published by the British Association.

 It appears in Heis’s Atlas as a magnitude 6.7; but after searching through the modern catalogues where it was likely to be included, we have only discovered a single meridian observation by Lamont in his zone 314, on April 5^th 1845, when he called it magnitude 7.8.

It does not occur in Argelander’s “Uranometria”, nor was it observed by D’Agelet, Bessel or Santini.

 Another of Lalande’s stars No. 23726 in Corvus, is in all probability variable. He estimated it at magnitude 7.5 on May 10^th 1795, and Bessel in May 1824 called it magnitude 8.0. Heis, however, saw it as a 5^th magnitude star. What is the actual degree of brightness? 

                                                       www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - shadows of jupiter's satellites in the 1870s

 Academy, Saturday 16^th January 1875

 Shadows of Jupiter's Satellites—During the last four years Mr. Burton has frequently observed that the shadows of Jupiter's satellites projected on the disc of the planet during transit were elliptical, and that this was, as a rule, the case only when Jupiter was near quadrature, and the shadow therefore seen obliquely.

Mr. Burton's explanation of the phenomenon is that the shadow falls on cumulus clouds, which give rise to the markings on Jupiter’s disc, these clouds being dark and therefore invisible wherever the shadow falls, but in full sunshine scattering the light in all directions. The shadow will thus present exactly the same appearance as a cylindrical hole which sends no light to the eye but allows light from the bright clouds forming its boundary to pass; and such a hole, when viewed obliquely, will appear the more elliptical the greater its depth.

From his estimations of the ellipticity on different occasions, Mr. Burton has deduced a depth of atmosphere of from 3,000 to 9,000 miles, a result which would accord well with the small density of Jupiter as a whole, only a quarter that of the earth. On the hypothesis that the bright clouds are scattered at different levels in an atmosphere of considerable thickness, the observed decrease of brightness near the limb is explained by supposing the sunlight to pass freely into space through interstices between the clouds near the limb, so that none of it is received back again by the eye. Mr. Burton's paper is given in the Monthly Notices for December.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - Transit of Mercury observed from Liverpool in 1868

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

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

 

                                                         www.thramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope tales - telescope for Peckham in 1865

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

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

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

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through Leo the Lion

Leo the Lion is a fantastic spring constellation, its one of the few constellations that looks like the figure it is supposed to represent. The lion’s head is outlined by a sickle of backwards question mark which at the bottom is the bright star Regulus.

In ancient Greece Leo represents the Nemean Lion which originally came from the Moon, and after his earthly stay, is carried back to the heavens with his slayer Hercules.

It is rather ironic that although Hercules slays the lion, in the sky the constellation of Leo the Lion is much more prominent than Hercules.

The Egyptian king Necepsos taught that at the creation the Sun rose here from near the star Denebola which is in Leo.

The Persians called the constellation Ser, the Turks called it Artan, the Syrians knew it as Aryo, the Jews called it Arye while to the Babylonians it was Aru- all the names mean a Lion.

On Ninevite cylinders Leo is depicted as in fatal conflict with a bull, typifying the victory of light over darkness; and in Euphratean astronomy it was additionally known as Gisbar-namru-sa-pan, variously translated as the Shinning One which precedes Bel; this is our Ursa Major.

Throughout antiquity the Lion and the constellation always have been identified with the Sun, indeed in all historic ages till it finally appears on the royal arms of England, as well as those of many of the early noble families of England. During the 12^th century it was the only animal shown on Anglo Saxon shields.

 Alpha or Regulus which means ‘Prince or Little King, lies 79 light years away, it has a brightness of magnitude 1.4 Regulus is a B class star with a surface temperature 12,000’C, much hotter than our Sun at 5,800’C.

Regulus was the leader of the four Royal Stars of the ancient Persians, The Four Guardians of the Heavens. The other three are Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus, Aldebaran in Taurus and Antares in Scorpio.

The Arab astronomer Al Biruni called Regulus the Heart of the Royal Lion, which “rises when Suhail rises in Al Hijaz”.  Another Arab name for the Lion’s Heart was Al Kalb al Asad. The title of the Lion’s heart was also recognised by Greek and Roman astronomers.

To Euphratean astronomers the star was Gus-ba-ra, The Flame or the Red Fire of the House of the East.

Beta or Denebola is derived from the Arabic name of Al Dhanab al Asad of the Lion’s Tail. The Arab astronomer Al Biruni wrote of the star, “The heat turns away when it rises, and the cold turns away when it disappears”

The Persians knew the star as Avdem or the One in the Tail, while the Khorasmians called it Wilhayu or the Burning One.

Gamma or Algeiba which means ‘Lions Mane’, is an orange class K giant star with a magnitude of 2.1 and is 130 light years away.

Delta or Zosma which means ‘Girdle or hip’ is an A class star lying at a distance of 58 light years, Zosma has a magnitude of 2.6.  Ulug Beg called the star Al Thahr al Asad, or the Lion’s Back.

The Chinese saw this star as Shang Seang or the Higher Minister of State.

There are five messier galaxies in Leo all require telescopes to be seen.

M65,

A galaxy lying about 35 million light years away, it was discovered by Messier in 1780 at magnitude 10, a telescope is needed to find it. M65 together with M66 and NGC 3628 form what astronomers call the Leo triplet of galaxies. They can all be seen close together in the sky.

M66

M66 at mag 8.9 is brighter than M65 and can be glimpsed with binoculars but telescopes will allow you to see it much better. It was discovered by Messier in 1780.  It lies at a distance of around 31 million light years. There have been 5 supernovae seen in M66 in 1973.1989,1997, 2014 and 2016, a reason why these galaxies are very popular with astrophotographers.

NGC 3628

Known as the Hamburger Galaxy it is the third member of the Leo Triplet of galaxies. It lies at a distance of 35 million light years and shines at magnitude 10. I am somewhat surprised that Messier did not see this galaxy as it lies so close to M65 and M66

M95

Lying at a distance of 33 million light years M95 has a magnitude of 11.4. A supernova was seen here in 2012.

M96

With a magnitude of 10, M96 is too faint to be seen with binoculars. It lies at a distance of 31 million light years and was discovered in 1781. A supernova was seen in 1998.

M105

Yet another galaxy lying at a distance of 36 million light years. Again, it has a magnitude of 10. Messier would have seen M105 in 1781.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - European observatories in 1874

 Nature, October 8th 1874

France, Germany and Austria are vying with each other in astronomical activity. In the grounds of the Paris Observatory a 4-foot Foucault mirror is being erected and M. Le Verrier has already obtained a grant for a 30 inch refractor.

The Vienna Observatory is also making arrangements for the reception of a telescope of similar aperture. Messrs Merz have nearly completed a lens of 20 inches aperture, for the university of Strassburg.

In France, the newly created Ecole Speciale des Hautes Etudes is being taken advantage of to form a school of astronomy; in Germany and America many such schools already exist, thanks to the rational administration of their observatories, the assistants in which are the pupils, friends and potential successors of the director.

                                                     www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - astrophotography in Newcastle in 1890

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

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

                                                       www.thramblingastronomer.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.

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - Mars in 1877

 Academy, Saturday 18^th December 1875

The Opposition of Mars, 1877.—The Astronomer Royal has given a chart of the path of Mars in 1877, with neighbouring stars down to the ninth magnitude taken from Bessel's Zones, the object being to facilitate observations of the parallax of Mars in this important opposition, when the planet approaches more closely than usual to the earth, owing to the position of its eccentric orbit.

 Although it is hoped that the sun’s parallax will be determined with considerable accuracy by the late transit of Venus, astronomers cannot afford to throw away the opportunity which the planet Mars offers of getting an independent, and possibly equally trustworthy, determination, more especially when it is remembered how important a part the observations of Mars in 1861 (the last opposition which was favourable for this purpose ) played in correcting the results obtained from the transit of Venus in 1769, For observations of Mars no special expeditions will be necessary, all that is required being to measure the apparent distances of the planet from neighbouring pairs of stars at northern and southern Observatories, and also at the same Observatory, when the planet is rising and when it is setting. The latter class of observation enables an observer to determine the sun’s distance by measures made entirely at his own Observatory, the rotation of the earth providing him with a base line from east to west.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - in 1865 even a Cooke telescope could not see through trees

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

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

                                                    www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

 

 

 

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - possible solar observatory for Potsdam in 1874

 Nature, September 17^th 1874

The German Government has determined upon the erection of a Sun Observatory upon a large scale at Potsdam. Drs Spoerer and Vogel have already been appointed to undertake telescopic and spectroscopic observations, and the directorship has been offered to Prof Kirchhoff, who however has declined it as he is unwilling to leave Heidelberg.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

Cooke Telescope Tales - Saturn observed from Sunderland in 1890

 Dr J Haswell, Grange Terrace, Sunderland in 1890 

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

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

                                                        www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through Lacerta the Lizard

 Another modern faint constellation, this time in the northern sky, Lacerta the Lizard was created by the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in the early 1680s. The constellation is sandwiched between Cygnus and Andromeda. Hevelius created several small faint constellations in the northern sky. Most are so faint that their stars could easily have been put into larger classical Greek constellations.  Lacerta is such an example.

Hevelius drew a strange weasel shaped creature with a curly tail. Hevelius did suggest an alternative name that of Stellio the Stellion a newt with star like dorsal spots found along the Mediterranean coast. John Flamsteed the first astronomer royal drew a picture of a greyhound here. Today it is just Lacerta the Lizard.

The Chinese considered this area of the sky to be part of their constellation of the Flying Serpent.

There were other suggestions for constellations in this area, the Sceptre and Hand of Justice created by the French astronomer Augustin Royer in 1697 to commemorate King Lous XIV. The German astronomer Johann Bode in 1787 called this area Frederick’s glory in honour of King Frederick II of Prussia. Both have been discarded in favour of Lacerta.

There is only one bright star, alpha with a magnitude of 3.7, it’s an A class star making it much hotter than the Sun, alpha is 102 light years away.

Although there are no bright stars in Lacerta it is worthwhile looking at because the Milky way galaxy passes through it and this is an area of space where nova often occur. Although Lacerta is a small constellation there were three novae in the 20^th century in 1910, 1936 and 1950.

A nova is a binary star system with two stars, one a small hot white dwarf the other a much larger but cooler giant star. The white dwarf pulls gas from its companion towards it and when enough has been pulled off the giant star a shell of gas is thrown into space. The star suddenly appears in the sky where no naked eye star had been seen before. A long time ago these were called a Nova which is Latin for new because astronomers thought these were stars being created. We now know that they are older stars just going through their timelines. Although today we still use the old term of nova to describe these stars.

There are no bright deep sky objects in Lacerta.

                                                    www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk

A little ramble through 19th century astronomy - new observatory in South America in 1874

 Academy Saturday 19^th December 1874

 —M. Gonzalez, the Director of the National Observatory of Columbia, is about to establish a private observatory for astronomical physics at Bogota  at an altitude of 10,000 feet, and nearly on the equator a most  favourable situation for the application of the spectroscope to the sun and planets, as they may there be observed in the zenith, while the observatory will be removed above the grosser portion of the atmosphere.

                                                      www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk