Tag Archives: telescopes

Across the Universe: Errata

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This entry is part 42 of 176 in the series Across the Universe

(This column first ran in the Tablet in November, 2005, and reran in 2015… it refers to a column I published here on the blog last month.) Waxing eloquent in a previous column, I referred to Lord Rosse’s giant 19-century telescope as “rightly called a leviathan, it boasted a mirror five feet in diameter set in a tube fifty feet long…” Except, of course, that I was wrong. It’s bigger: the mirror is 72 inches, or six feet, in diameter, and the tube is 54 feet long. It’s not the first mistake I’ve made in print, nor will it be the last. A small group of helpful readers e-mail me regularly with my errata, providing me with a regular dose of humility. In past columns I’ve been sloppy in the way I have defined “heliacal risings” and premature in what definitions of a planet the IAU will consider. My initial defensive reaction is to insist, “it doesn’t matter! Five feet or … Continue reading →

The Photoheliograph: pt. 3

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This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Photoheliograph

In April of 2016, I discovered a man named Warren De La Rue while looking through the London Stereoscopic Company website. He was a remarkable scientist and businessman. My interest was originally because of the stereo views of the Moon he made. My attention was soon drawn to an expedition to Spain he made in 1860 to photograph the total solar eclipse. My research led me to an article in the  Illustrated London News that had a woodcut of the research party in Spain. I was fascinated by the instrument used. Further reading led me to research the Kew Observatory’s photoheliograph. He wrote of the expedition in the Bakerian Lecture of 1862. This lecture was far more than an academic speech, he told of the preparations, the trials of the trip, and the generosity of the Spaniards he came across (it is a fun read, even if you skip the science). It was at this time I resolved to build my own … Continue reading →

The Photoheliograph, pt. 1

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This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Photoheliograph

Chasing the Sun For the entirety of the Victorian era, British gentleman scientists, gathered in the great halls (and back-rooms) of learned societies, were a driving force in the advancement of astronomy.  Much of the research was undertaken by the wealthy. These men could afford the equipment, and had the time to utilize it. It was considered their duty to use their means to promote and advance science. I have a fascination with the Kew Observatory, in London. It was set up originally so that King George III could watch the Transit of Venus in 1769. The building sat empty until 1842 when the British Association for the Advancement of Science started installing various instruments ranging from self recording magnetometers to a solar telescope. It is, in fact the latter that piqued my interest. The Sun in the mid 19th century was to become one of the greatest research subjects for several decades. It had been known for centuries that … Continue reading →

Is that REAL?

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I’ve been asked “Is that REAL?” several times when showing Jupiter or Saturn through my telescope. Sometimes the viewer adds “Is there a screen in that thing?” I joke about how a light touch on the telescope shakes the image around a bit – sometimes I get gasps from the viewer when I do that, when they realize that YUP! It’s REAL! This morning, in the glum moments before my first cup of coffee, I wondered: did those viewers think I had them look through my telescope so I could FOOL them, or LIE to them somehow? That’s a lot of effort for me to go through just to be a jerk… For a vast majority of the public who look through my telescope, it’s their first time doing so. “Oh Wow!” is always satisfying to hear, and common with first-timers. But let’s have a look at that a bit closer – that person is saying “Oh WOW!” because they’re having “a … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Mirror image

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This entry is part 156 of 176 in the series Across the Universe

This column first ran in The Tablet in January 2017 A friend studying for his doctorate at Warwick University recently sent me a poster advertising a talk on campus, decrying “The Worst Censorship of Research Since the Catholic Church Banned the Telescope!” It’s obviously not enough to point out that the Church never banned the telescope. I’ve also learned how hard it is to convince anyone that the Church’s mistakes with Galileo, very serious as they were, had nothing to do with it being against science. The science-versus-religion myth has been pushed, for political purposes, for more than a hundred years; a recent British popular science book can still insist that after Galileo went on trial, all science ceased in the Catholic world! (Except, apparently, for Descartes, Riccioli, Cassini, Galvani, Volta, Ampere, Boskovich, Mendel, Secchi…) The hardest students to teach are the ones who think they already know the answers. I know nothing about the scientist giving that talk (except … Continue reading →

Across the Universe: Edge of the World

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This entry is part 117 of 176 in the series Across the Universe

  This column first ran in The Tablet in April 2015 At the edge of the world, the top of the world, is a window of our world into the rest of the universe: the telescopes of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile. Nearby are other large observatories at Cerro Tololo, Las Campanas, and the Alma radio array at Chajnantor. These telescopes have shown how the expansion of our universe is accelerating; they’ve explored hundreds of planets around other stars; they’ve traced the motions of stars orbiting a super-massive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy. I am visiting [in 2015] here with a half-dozen patrons who support such telescopes (including the Vatican’s own telescope in Arizona). Along with our host, Dr. Fernando Cameron, our small group includes a businessman who sits on the boards of universities; a retired schoolteacher; a NASA engineer… eclectic in background, but joined by a fascination of the bigger universe, and the … Continue reading →