Isaac Roberts old 7inch Cooke used to observe an occultation

 

In 1923 Mr Bower used the 7 inch Cooke telescope that had been attached to the 20 inch reflector used by Isaac Roberts to watch the occultation of Aldebaran by the Moon. He reported that when the central point of the star touched the limb of the Moon the star disappeared instantly

Does anyone remember telescopes from Dixons?

 I came across a real blast from the past. This is an advert from 1976

It's nearly 50 years since the Mendip Astronomers stared to build their observatory

 

Cheddar Valley Gazette Friday 23^rd February 1973

Digging begins for telescope

Mendip Astronomers meeting on Thursday last was mainly taken up discussing just what help members could be to Dr. Armitage with the construction of the Charterhouse observatory, and decided that the best thing would be to offer to do some digging for the initial stages of the building.

Dr. Armitage agreed that this would be a good idea, and members will meet on Sunday next at the site to start clearing it. It is hoped to film some of the various stages of the work.

The actual telescope is now completed and is being stored in Bridgwater awaiting the building of its housing. In fact it was shown on television last week when Patrick Moore was in Bridgwater. It is an f 7 Newtonian reflector mounted on a German equatorial mounting. The tube is eleven feet long and holds an eighteen inch diameter minor.

This mirror has been figured by Henry Wildey who is one of, if not the best astronomical mirror makers alive today, so it will be a superb mirror. It has three finders and a rotatable eyepiece holder which will make it very easy to use. It is also fitted with setting circles for locating celestial objects and is fully electrically driven.

Although it was very cold on Thursday evening, some of the more intrepid members of the group ventured outside to have a look at the moon and the planet Saturn through Mr. E. Beech's six inch telescope. Despite a slight haze, Saturn was seen quite well, with its rings wide open and Titan, the largest of its moons alongside it.

The moon, our moon that is, was too near full to show much detail, it is best seen when only partly illuminated when there are plenty of shadows bringing out the detail.

However, the rays from the ,craters Tycho, Copernicus and a few smaller ones stood out very well. These rays which fan out from the craters and cover vast areas of the Moon are thought to be material which has been ejected out of the craters during their formation.

There was a huge halo around the moon. This was caused by ice crystals in our upper atmosphere refracting the moonlight. It is under these conditions that we sometimes get the phenomenon known as "mock moons," a halo around the moon and four images of the moon above. below and to either side of the moon itself.

The next meeting will be on Thursday. March 1^st , once again at Derek Randal's house 'Tregantle' in Milton Lane, Wells. New members are still coming along from time to time and anyone interested in astronomy is welcome.

The Radio Times and the Telescope that appeared over 100 years too early

 

You might be aware that I blogged on the 13^th August that the BBC TV programme The Boleyns, showed Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne using a telescope in the 1490s over 100 years before the instrument was invented.

I had tried to contact the production company without success so I sent a letter to the Radio Times and to my utter amazement my letter was published in the edition which begins on Saturday 28^th August and for spotting this glaring error I even won a DVD.

Telescope for sale from old Warwickshire A.S.

 I came across this advert regarding Warwickshire Astronomical Society which I believe is now the Coventry & Warwickshire Astronomical Society, was this person whose name was 'Osborne' a member?

Coventry Standard, Thursday 20^th February 1969

6 inch NEWTONIAN Astro Telescope, Fuller, equatorial mount, electric drive, slow motion control, both axis, eye pieces etc. Fine instrument £50 ONO- Osborne c/o Warwickshire Astronomical Society, 

Did this person become a member of Manchester A.S.?

 

Manchester Evening Press Thursday 3^rd April 1958

For a long time I have been trying to get a telescope. Unfortunately, all the firms I have written to, including American ones, require a big deposit, which I cannot afford. Do please try to help me, I love astronomy but its not much good without a telescope. S.R.P Manchester 19

Why not join the Manchester Astronomical Society, which has the use of the Godlee Observatory on certain nights? This contains an 8 inch refractor with a 6 inch Star Field camera attached and a 12 inch reflector on the same mounting. Visits to other observatories and places of astronomical interest are arranged and there is an extensive library.

Mr S .W. R. Mottran of 30 Hartington Road, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester 21, one of the joint honorary secretaries would give you further particulars.

The Astronomy Show

 

Join me, Martin Lunn tonight and every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the Astronomy Show, I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the A-Z of Constellations and the Messier Marathon.

The Astronomy Show every Monday evening only on Drystone Radio 102 and 103.5 FM the show can be heard live on line at www.drystoneradio.com and the show can be heard later on the Drystone Radio Podcast.