Markree Observatory
{{Short description|Astronomical observatory}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2020}}
File:August William Doberck Markree refracting telescope 13,3-inch Cauchoix objective darker.jpg
Markree Observatory was an astronomical observatory in County Sligo, Ireland.{{cite journal
| last = Doberck
| first = William
| author-link =
| title = Markree Observatory
| journal = The Observatory
| volume = 7
| issue = 90
| pages = 283–288
| date = 1884
| bibcode = 1884Obs.....7..283D
| last = Doberck
| first = William
| author-link =
| title = Markree Observatory
| journal = The Observatory
| volume = 7
| issue = 91
| pages = 329–332
| date = 1884
| bibcode = 1884Obs.....7..329D
| last = Hoskin
| first = Michael
| author-link =
| title = Archives of Dunsink and Markree Observatories
| journal = Journal for the History of Astronomy
| volume = 13
| issue = 2
| pages = 146–152
| date = 1982
| bibcode = 1982JHA....13..146H
| doi=10.1177/002182868201300219
| s2cid = 118143723
}} The asteroid 9 Metis was discovered from this observatory in 1848 by Cooper's assistant Andrew Graham using a comet seeker telescope.{{cite journal
| last = Graham
| first = A.
| author-link = Andrew Graham (astronomer)
| title = New Planet
| journal = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| volume = 8
| number = 6
| page = 148
| publisher = Royal Astronomical Society
| date = 1848
| bibcode = 1848MNRAS...8..146G
| doi = 10.1093/mnras/8.6.148
| doi-access = free
}} (Signed 29 April 1848; the discovery was first announced on 27 April)
The observatory was also home to the largest refractor of the early 1830s, which had a {{convert|13.3|in|adj=on}} aperture Cauchoix of Paris lens; the largest in the world at that time. The observatory also housed a number of instruments and was operated to varying degrees throughout the 19th century.
The observatory is noted for its discovery of the asteroid 9 Metis in 1848 as well as a 60,000 item star catalogue of the 1850s.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cRcZSq8w1MEC&pg=PA61 |title=Early China Coast Meteorology: The Role of Hong Kong|last=MacKeown|first=P. Kevin|date=2011-01-01|publisher=Hong Kong University Press|isbn=9789888028856|language=en}} In the later 1800s it was operated again after a brief hiatus, and gained note for its meteorological observations and research on double stars.
History
File:driveway-1.jpegIn 1830, Colonel Edward Joshua Cooper MP (1798–1863) eldest son of Edward Synge Cooper MP, and Ann, daughter of Henry Vansittart, Governor of Bengal, set up Markree Observatory on the grounds of Markree Castle near Collooney in County Sligo.
In 1831 Cooper acquired from Robert A. Cauchoix of Paris an objective of 13.3-inches (~33.78 cm) for which he paid £1200. In 1834 he mounted the lens on an equatorial mounting supplied by Thomas Grubb of Dublin.{{cite journal
| last = Launay
| first = Françoise
| title = Robert Aglaé Cauchoix (1776–1845) and his Large Achromatic Object-glasses
| journal = The Antiquarian Astronomer
| volume = 12
| pages = 2–16
| publisher = Society for the History of Astronomy
| date = 2018
| bibcode = 2018AntAs..12....2L
| url = http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2018AntAs..12....2L
}}
For a number of years Cooper's big refractor was the largest in the world. He used the telescope to sketch Halley's comet in 1835 and to view the solar eclipse of 15 May 1836.[http://www.europa.com/~telscope/tsfrance.txt History of the Cauchoix objective]
Later a 5-foot (1.5m) transit and a 3-foot (0.9m) meridian circle, fitted with an interchangeable 7-inch (17.75 cm) glass were added, which was the largest at that time in 1839; also in 1842 a 3-inch comet seeker was added.
The observatory had a Stevenson screen, invented in 1863.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/321116/view/markree-observatory-ireland|title=Markree Observatory, Ireland - Stock Image - R100/0199|website=Science Photo Library|access-date=2019-10-29}}
"The Observatory of Mr Cooper of Markree Castle{{snd}}undoubtedly the most richly furnished private observatory known{{snd}}is worked with great activity by Mr Cooper himself and by his very able assistant, Mr Andrew Graham." (Royal Astronomical Society, 1851){{cite journal
| title = Report of the Council to the Thirty-first Annual General Meeting
| journal = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
| volume = 11
| number = 4
| pages = 104–105
| publisher = Royal Astronomical Society
| date = 1851
| bibcode = 1851MNRAS..11..104D
| doi=10.1093/mnras/11.4.67a
| last1 = Drew
| first1 = J.
| doi-access = free
}}
In 1848, Cooper's assistant, Andrew Graham, discovered the asteroid 9 Metis with a wide-field comet seeker telescope manufactured by Ertel. Graham resigned his post at Markree in 1860, but continued his research at Cambridge Observatory until his retirement in 1905. E.J. Cooper died in 1863, but the observatory remained active until the death of Edward Henry Cooper MP in 1902.
The 13+ inch Cauchoix
The Cauchoix telescope was installed inside a circular wall, but it had no dome or roof over it. The enclosure has a diameter of 16-feet across.
The telescope mounting was made by Grubb of Dublin. (Grubb would make telescopes for a century and half, later known as Grubb-Parsons)
The telescope objective was doublet with 13.3 inches of aperture and 25 feet focal length.{{cite book
| last = Elliott
| first = Ian
| title = The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers
| contribution = Cooper, Edward Joshua
| year = 2007
| editor-last = Hockey | editor-first = Thomas
| editor2-last = Trimble | editor2-first = Virginia
| editor3-last = Williams | editor3-first = Thomas R.
| editor4-last = Bracher | editor4-first = Katherine
| editor5-last = Jarrell | editor5-first = Richard
| editor6-last = Marché | editor6-first = Jordan D.
| editor7-last = Ragep | editor7-first = F. Jamil
| publisher = Springer Publishing
| place = New York
| isbn = 9780387304007
| doi = 10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_301
| title-link = Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers
| pages = 250–251
}} {{subscription required}}
The Grubb mounting had a clockwork drive and weighed almost 2.4 metric tons (2.6 US tons), which rested on a limestone pillar.
The lens was ground by Cauchoix of Paris using glass blanks by Guinand.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iZk5OOf7fVYC&pg=PA777 |title=Catchers of the Light: The Forgotten Lives of the Men and Women Who First Photographed the Heavens|last=Hughes|first=Stefan|date=2012|publisher=ArtDeCiel Publishing|isbn=9781620509616|language=en}} The 13.3 inch lens was completed in 1831.
{{anchor|Pierre-Louis Guinand}}
Pierre-Louis Guinand (de fr) (20 April 1748, La Sagne — 13 February 1824, Les Brenets
:wikidata:Q2797540{{user-generated source|date=January 2022}}{{cite journal |title=Le Centaire de Pierre-Louis Guinand. |url=https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1925LAstr..39..177D |journal=L'Astronomie |publisher=Astrophysics Data System |bibcode=1925LAstr..39..177D |access-date=18 December 2021|author1=D. P |year=1925 |volume=39 |page=177 }}
{{cite journal |title=MEMOIR OF THE LATE M. GUINAND |journal=Mechanics Magazine |date=1824–1825 |volume=3 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.68418/page/n305/mode/2up |access-date=18 December 2021}}
{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Kevin L. |chapter=Historical challenge of large lenses |editor1-first=Richard G |editor1-last=Bingham |editor2-first=David D |editor2-last=Walker |title=Large Lenses and Prisms |series=Proceedings of the SPIE |date=7 February 2002 |volume=4411 |pages=147 |doi=10.1117/12.454883 |bibcode=2002SPIE.4411..147J |s2cid=140636136 |quote=SPIE Proceedings (Large Lenses and Prisms - London, United Kingdom Tuesday 27 March 2001)}}{{cite journal |last1=Rastogi |first1=Pramod K. |title=Guest Editorial: Special Section on Optics in Switzerland, Part 1: Federal Institutes of Technology |journal=Optical Engineering |date=1 July 1995 |volume=34 |issue=7 |pages=1863 |doi=10.1117/12.214186 |quote=One of the first Swiss known to have endeavored in optics production, Pierre-Louis Guinand (1748—1824) was an amateur telescope maker. He was born in La Sagne in the state of Neuchâtel. As good quality flint glass was difficult to obtain at the time, Guinand put himself to the task of producing it. After painstaking searches and trials, he succeeded in producing flawless flint glass of large dimensions.|doi-access=free }}
{{cite journal |last1=Reynier |first1=Édouard |title=Notice sur feu M. Guinand, opticien |journal=Bibliothèque Universelle des Sciences, Belles Lettres, et Arts |date=1824 |volume=25 |issue=9 |pages=142–158, 227–236 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DuJVZu6qGIkC&pg=PA142 |access-date=18 December 2021 |publisher=Bibliotheque Universelle |location=Geneva, Paris |language=fr}}) was a Swiss{{cite web |title=Golden Era of Refractors |url=https://history.aip.org/exhibits/cosmology/tools/tools-refractors.htm |website=A Cosmic Journey: A History of Scientific Cosmology |publisher=Center for History of Physics, American Institute of Physics |access-date=18 December 2021 |quote=Between 1784 and 1790, Pierre Louis Guinand, a Swiss craftsman, taught himself the basic skills of glassmaking and began to experiment with optical glass.}}
{{cite web |title=Guinand l'Opticien (1748 - 1824) aux Brenets: Exposition Guinand l'Opticien - Les Brenets |url=http://fpsi.ch/brenets/brenets.html |website=FPSI - Fédération du Patrimoine Scientifique et Industriel |access-date=18 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509182541/http://fpsi.ch/brenets/brenets.html |archive-date=9 May 2016 |date=9 May 2016}}
{{cite web |title=Optical glass |url=http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Optical_glass |website=Conservation and Art Materials Encyclopedia Online |publisher=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |access-date=18 December 2021}}
{{cite web |title=the lens |url=http://www.craig-telescope.co.uk/lens.html |website=The Craig Telescope |publisher=Society for the History of Astronomy |access-date=18 December 2021 |quote=Methods of making large disks of flint glass were discovered in the late 18th century by Pierre Louis Guinand (1748–1824), a Swiss optician, who became associated with the German optician and physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer.}}
who in the late 1700s came up with a breakthrough for making better quality and larger glass, and in time went on to teach a young Fraunhofer at Joseph von Utzschneider's (1763-1840{{cite web |title=Utzschneider und Fraunhofer |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/cp26931/utzschneider-und-fraunhofer |website=collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk {{!}} Science Museum Group Collection |access-date=12 November 2023 |language=en}}) glassworks, and eventually started his own optical glass works.
{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KAWwzHlDVksC&pg=PA176 |title=The History of the Telescope|last=King|first=Henry C.|date=2003-01-01|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=9780486432656|language=en}}
Guinand would supply glass for the Paris Observatory telescopes and also Cauchoix.
Instruments
See also
- Markree Castle
- Craig telescope (refractor of the 1850s)
- Leviathan of Parsonstown (Big Irish metal-mirror (1.8 m) reflector after 1845)
- 40-foot telescope (Herschel's)
- List of astronomical observatories
- List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century
References
{{Reflist}}
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{{Coord|54.174286|-8.46147|region:IE_type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:Buildings and structures in County Sligo
Category:Astronomical observatories in the Republic of Ireland