Nassau Astronomical Observing Station saved

36" Warner & Swasey telescope

"Cleveland Foundation donates $200,000 to Observatory Park"

August 28th, 2013

The News-Hearld

The Geauga Park District has surpassed the halfway mark to its $1.175 million fundraising goal of restoring and renovating the Nassau Astronomical Observing Station at Observatory Park in Montville Township.

The park system announced the latest contribution Wednesday: $100,000 from the Cleveland Foundation and another $100,000 from the foundation's Lake-Geauga Fund. Robert Eckardt, executive vice president of the Cleveland Foundation, said the grant was awarded as part of the foundation's 2014 centennial anniversary.

"The Cleveland Foundation has a long history of supporting green spaces throughout Northeast Ohio, and we are proud to be able to play a leadership role in protecting a park that is such a treasure to the Geauga community and to our region," Eckardt said.

The Nassau station, named after Case Western Reserve University's observatory director and chairman of astronomy, John Nassau, opened in the 1957. Back then, researchers traveled east to Montville to avoid light pollution, but as Geauga County developed, the university mothballed the station and relocated its astronomical research efforts to Arizona.

Geauga Park District bought the observatory and its 218 surrounding acres in October 2008 from the university for $915,000.

Observatory Park opened in June 2012 after a $2.1 million fundraising campaign and renovations. The Geauga Park District Foundation is focusing its fundraising on the Nassau station and since February, has raised $590,000.

The project includes installing green restrooms and solar panels, an elevator, a museum of Northeast Ohio's history on astronomy, educational space in the station's former living quarters, more parking and a trail linking the Nassau station with the Observatory Park's main campus.

The work also would refurbish the Cleveland-made Warner & Swasey 36-inch Cassegrain telescope.

"Over the years, the Nassau station has helped thousands of scientists, teachers and students see the heavens from a different perspective, and it's wonderful to know that that opportunity is going to be available to teachers and students for generations to come," said Paula Aveni, capital campaign chairwoman.

Observatory Park and Restoration of Nassau Station

Warner and Swasey Observatory

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory

The 1.83-metre Plaskett Telescope of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.

"Federal budget cuts to close renowned astronomy centre"

 by

Stephen Hume

August 23rd, 2013

Vancouver Sun Columnist

There are people, as Oscar Wilde famously said, who know the price of everything but the value of nothing.

So, with that in mind, I made my way to the top of Little Saanich Mountain last weekend to bid a bittersweet farewell to The Centre of the Universe, due to close its doors at the end of August, one of the least deserving victims of Ottawa’s spending cuts.

The Centre of the Universe is the low-budget but high-yield — at least in public goodwill for the sciences — interpretive centre that was launched just over a decade ago for the National Research Council at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and the Hertzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Canada’s leading centre for astronomical research.

The centre runs summer astronomy camps, provides engaging instructional support for all grade levels up to Grade 12 physics, hosts public lectures, provides internships for students, and is deeply engaged with the 145-year-old Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, the association of science amateurs that is recognized for many important contributions to observational research and education.

I wrote about the centre when it opened in 2001. I even took my 11-year-old daughter up for one of the centre’s “Star Parties,” a sleepover for kids that introduced them to the Perseids meteor shower with tours, sky-watching, a late-night movie, snacks and breakfast, all for $35.

She had a great evening and so did I, watching the immense Plaskett Telescope, once the world’s biggest, rotate to give us brief looks at deep space objects too dim to see, all enhanced into spectacular pictures by the high-tech digital imaging.

Inside, interactive displays let kids pick up a meteorite, experiment with the refraction of light, play with the spectrum and the Doppler Effect, and correct the curve of a telescope lens to eliminate star twinkle, learning hands-on how these tools are used to study quasars, pulsars, black holes and the universe itself.

Other displays highlight the important contributions by Canadian astronomers, from John Plaskett’s discovery — right here in B.C. more than 70 years ago — of the structure of our galaxy to the contemporary work of John Kavelaars. He has an asteroid named after him, is responsible for the discovery of more than a dozen of Saturn’s moons, and is tracking objects in the outer solar system.

The place was packed last weekend for a lecture by Kavelaars on recent discoveries that give new insights into the formation of the solar system and what’s going on out there in the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud. Those are clouds of orbiting debris from the solar system’s birth that still send us occasional comets, fireballs and the daily shower of 200 tonnes of ice and dust upon our planet.

Since 1980, the Plaskett Telescope has been a key tool for Spaceguard, an international team of scientists identifying and calculating orbits for more than a thousand asteroids larger than two football fields in diameter.

If one of these were to hit our corner of the earth — and one does strike the planet every 10,000 years or so — it would blast millions of tonnes of molten rock out of a crater deeper than a 500-storey building, drop white-hot ash back over a 150-km radius, ignite all the forests on the coast, and send a 100-metre-high tsunami across the Pacific and more than 20 kilometres inland in low-lying areas.

Already, scientists are at work studying what might be done to deflect such an object from striking Earth, so this kind of research is both practical and of public interest.

Killing such valuable public outreach at such a high-profile science facility seems a classic example of what my mother would call penny-wise, pound-foolish thinking.

Or we could put it another way:

The cost savings to the federal government by closing the Centre of the Universe public outreach and educational facility will be about $250,000 a year. Three high-profile Harper government senators are currently being investigated for about $260,000 in allegedly improper expense claims. And the cost for keeping the centre open for 18 months is about the same as for one full-day’s use of Ottawa’s VIP aircraft.

The federal minister responsible for the National Research Council is our own James Moore, B.C.’s lead minister in the Harper cabinet.

’Nuff said.

From Canada Under the Stars...

"The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory"

The first Canadian observatory of international calibre, it once housed the largest telescope in the world.

The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory was inaugurated in 1918 at Saanich near Victoria, British Columbia. Its creation was motivated by the growing need of Canadian astronomers to have access to a large world-class telescope. The observatory immediately achieved international status by housing a 1.83-metre telescope that was the largest operating telescope in the world, although it only held this title for a few months.

The installation of the telescope was largely the work of celebrated Canadian astronomer John Stanley Plaskett, and the instrument was baptized the “Plaskett Telescope” in his honour. It measured 15 metres long and its mobile parts weighed 42 tonnes.

Plaskett became the first Director of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and helped it establish an international research reputation very early on. In 1922, for example, he discovered a binary star and the larger of the two still holds the record as the most massive known binary star. This celestial body bears the name of “Plaskett’s Star” in his honour.

During subsequent years, Plaskett established the radial velocities of several stars (that is, the speed at which the stars are moving away or toward the observer) and demonstrated that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is rotating. He was also the first to measure the size, mass and rotational The 1.83-metre Plaskett Telescope of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory.speed of the Milky Way. He also established that the Sun is located at 2/3 the distance from the centre of our galaxy to its edge, and that our solar system takes approximately 22 million years to complete one galaxial rotation.

In 1940, the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory was the site of two other major discoveries. Andrew McKellar, one of the observatory’s astronomers, became the first researcher to detect the presence of matter in interstellar space when he identified the spectral bands for the organic compounds cyanogen (“CN”) and methyne (“CH”). One year later, in 1941, he determined the temperature of the cyanogen molecules and deduced that the interstellar environment in which they are found is very cold, approximately -270 °C. It was the first direct measurement of the temperature of the Universe.

In 1962, the observatory acquired a second telescope measuring 1.22 metres in diameter. Equipped with only a spectroscope, it was mainly used to study binary stars.

In 1970, the responsibility of the observatory was conferred to the National Research Council of Canada.

In 1981, the observatory received a third telescope measuring 40 centimetres across. It was primarily used for scientific research, notably the study of gas clouds in our galaxy (the Milky Way), and to test instruments destined for large telescopes. Today it is used to show the sky to the general public.

In 1995, the observatory became the headquarters for the Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, which operates several telescopes (optical and radio) in Canada and shares many others with various countries elsewhere in the world, including the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and the Gemini telescopes.

In 2001, the observatory inaugurated an interpretation centre open to the general public all year long and affectionately named “The Centre of the Universe”. It includes a small planetarium and offers interactive displays, multimedia presentations and special events designed to introduce people from all walks of life to the world of astronomy.

Over the years, new instruments were added and many technical improvements were made to the Plaskett Telescope, the observatory’s main telescope. Today, the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory is the responsibility of the National Research Council of Canada’s Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics.

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory [Wikipedia]

Mt. Wilson Observatory facilities spared

The vicious fires in California had threatened Mt. Wilson Observatory and other facilities this past week or two. The focus was on the old observatory and command public concern. That's good but understand that more importantly was a complex of communication and broadcasting towers that would be more devastating than the loss of an observatory. But, happily, all fears came to an end.

"Mt. Wilson Observatory Saved From Fire, Others Not So Lucky"

by

Alexis Madrigal

September 4th, 2009

Wired

A massive 150,000 acre fire burning near Los Angeles has been threatening the Mt. Wilson Observatory for the past week, but the historic site where astronomers first proved that there are many galaxies in the universe has been spared, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

“The Observatory grounds are in the best possible shape, the firefighters remain determined and in position, and we expect to survive this unless the approaching fire obtains far more aggressiveness and complexity than it now presents,” wrote observatory director, Hal McAlister, in a public update earlier this week.

In other good news, the Stony Ridge observatory, a smaller outpost six miles northeast of Mt. Wilson built by amateur astronomers in the early 1960s, also survived the blaze.

But other major scientific outposts haven’t been so lucky. Observatories, by virtue of their often remote locations, are particularly vulnerable in fire prone areas. Firefighting help can be scarce.

Most notably, the Mt. Stromlo Observatory outside Canberra, Australia, lost five telescopes during a 2003 fire. New Orleans research laboratories were devastated during Hurricane Katrina. In 1997, the High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy observatory on the Canary Island of La Palma was partially destroyed by fire. Just last month, a fire broke out on the same island, which is now home to the monster new Gran Telescopio Canarias.

It’s not just astronomical observatories that face fire hazards, either. In 1994, a fire tore through the Pinon Flats Observatory, which makes geological observations on the San Andreas Fault.

“What worked was that the fire crews are amazing in terms of saving structures,” said Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the University of California, San Diego. “They didn’t know what the stuff was, they were just doing what firefighters do which is save structures.”

Even so, a vacuum pipe through which the scientists run a laser beam to measure land deformations on the fault line collapsed. It was a year before the observatory was back at full strength.

Even for institutions that are closer to help, like the Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland hills, fire abatement is a constant struggle.

“We’re all positioned in pretty critical areas. Surrounded by conifers, and unfortunately, up here, eucalyptus. All kinds of stuff that goes up like a Roman candle,” said Dean Sparks (no relation to fire), head of operations at Chabot. “The typical recommendation is 30 feet of defensible space. We’re at 100 feet minimum and we’re trying to push that out now. We’re increasing the amount of defensible space between us and the Monterrey pines and the eucalyptus, which is a big part of the battle.”

The Wilson Observatory itself has been hounded by fire multiple times over the past half century. In 1935, a fire broke out nearby but “175 men aided by four pumper crews brought it under control,” The New York Times reported. Disaster was averted again in 1953 when The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Men and machines, alerted to a dreaded shift of wind, were massed atop Mt. Wilson last night to fight back flames which could destroy the observatory, hotel and television towers on the peak’s summit.”

The situation repeated itself again in 1957. And again in 1965 when flames came within 300 feet of the institution. In 1979 another blaze lit up nearby. Skirmishes broke out earlier this decade over the maintenance of the institution, particularly the Forest Service’s management of pines in the area.

So, while fires near Mt. Wilson aren’t exactly unknown, what was different this time around was that thousands of astronomy fans could follow the fire’s approach via the observatory’s webcam. The image at the top of the post was the last one taken — and it sure didn’t look good for the station. As it turned out, most of the smoke was from controlled backfires set by firefighters, which made the situation look worse than it was.

Many major scientific institutions have been destroyed, but rarely in public circumstances. Eurasian science, particularly in Slavic regions, took a beating during World War II.

“At the end of the war, the Soviet delegation at Nuremberg formally declared that during the occupation the Germans had destroyed 334 institutions of higher learning and 605 scientific research institutes,” wrote historian Pamela Spence Richards. “Of its library holdings they estimated that over 100 million volumes had been destroyed.”

In a note published in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada describing the destruction of the Simeiz Observatory in Crimea, C.J. Chant wrote, “Astronomers of Canada and the United States may well have a thankfulness that the observatories in this western world have not been in the path of invading armies.” Axis armies looted the observatory and when a fire broke out in the main building, the German commander let it burn to the ground.

Nowadays, much of the data from scientific institutions is stored somewhere “in the cloud” or can be backed up and shipped out. It’s no longer precious, but the institutions like Mt. Wilson Observatory that produced the data provide a material record — physical data — about the methods of science. That’s valuable for scholars, present and future.


6 years later and Mount Stromlo Observatory reopens

"Visit to an observatory or planetarium?" poll

6 years later and Mount Stromlo Observatory reopens

Perhaps you remember the terrible Australian fires of 2003 that demolished most of the Mount Stromlo Observatory complex.

On July 13th, 2003 Penny Sackett, Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, wrote:

The fires destroyed much of our infrastructure, but left our most important asset intact - our people,....

The day after fires, we committed to restoring Stromlo and its network of facilities as a pillar of Australian science.

Three weeks after the fires, our staff were back at work on the mountain, working in two office buildings which were largely undamaged.

We can not and we should not reconstruct a carbon copy of the old Stromlo. This new design is overwhelmingly oriented around meeting the needs of staff, students and visitors - while also ensuring Stromlo retains its status as an internationally important observatory.

For decades, Stromlo and Siding Spring have been operated as integrated observatories, combining the virtues of a control base close to ANU, close to the nation's capital and accessible to the community with a primary observation base offering optimal astronomical and climatic conditions.

The new design retains telescopes and the research hub at Stromlo, but provides even stronger integration with the University’s Siding Spring resources, ultimately providing a more powerful research facility for Australia.

PLANS UNVEILED FOR THE NEW STROMLO

Part of Mount Stromlo Observatory has been rebuilt.

"Eye of Mount Stromlo rises from the ashes"

by

Yuko Narushima

May 26th, 2009

The Sydney Morning Herald

UNRAVELLING the mysteries of the skies will be made easier for scientists worldwide by something of a $13 million phoenix.

A giant telescope was unveiled yesterday, an improvement on equipment lost to Canberra's bushfires six years ago.

The Skymapper is the country's first new optical research telescope in 25 years. It will be used to create a digital map of the southern skies, using detailed pictures taken over the next five years.

The telescope will be based at Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran in NSW and research will be shared freely with scientists overseas via the internet.

The Minister for Science and Research, Kim Carr, said the Skymapper added to Australia's impressive capabilities in astronomy. "It is fantastic to see Mount Stromlo reborn as a centre for internationally significant astronomy after the horror of the 2003 bushfires," he said.

Supporting space science helped people to understand their place in the universe and inspired technology that improved lives, he said.

The lead scientist on the project, Professor Brian Schmidt, said astronomers would use data retrieved by the telescope to make new discoveries. "Everything from dwarf planets like Pluto in our solar system to the first black holes in the universe," he said.

The project began in 2002 when the Australian National University applied for a grant to survey the southern skies using a telescope at Mount Stromlo. Only 18 days after it won the grant, a bushfire ripped through the observatory in a blaze that claimed four lives and destroyed hundreds of homes.

The telescope is also Australia's most sensitive digital camera and can take snaps of a patch of sky 25 times larger than the full moon.

Professor Schmidt called it a "268 megapixel behemoth" with sensitivity 5 million times greater than the human eye.

Space sciences and astronomy projects received $160.5 million in the last Federal Budget, including an $8.6 million pledge to create a Space Policy Unit.

Wikipedia gives this historical outline...

The observatory was established in 1924 as The Commonwealth Solar Observatory. The Mount Stromlo site had already been used for observations in the previous decade, a small observatory being established there by Pietro Baracchi using the Oddie telescope being located there in 1911. The dome built to house the Oddie telescope was the first Commonwealth building constructed in the newly established Australian Capital Territory. Until World War II, the observatory specialised in solar and atmospheric observations. During the war the workshops contributed to the war effort by producing gun sights, and other optical equipment. After the war, the observatory shifted direction to stellar and galactic astronomy and was renamed The Commonwealth Observatory.

The ANU was established in 1946 in nearby Canberra and joint staff appointments and graduate studies were almost immediately undertaken. A formal amalgamation took place in 1957 with Mount Stromlo Observatory becoming part of the ANU.

On January 18, 2003 the devastating Canberra firestorm hit Mount Stromlo (which is surrounded by a plantation pine forest) destroying five telescopes, workshops, seven homes and the heritage listed administration building. The only telescope to escape the fires was the 1868 15-centimetre Farnham telescope.

"Visit to an observatory or planetarium?" poll

Mueller Planetarium

Have you ever visited an observatory or planetarium?

Yes...9
No...0

Good to see the results. I know one voter lives very close to a famous observatory in Southern California and I bet he has worked on one. :)

McDonald Observatory

University of Texas

NASA Connect

Ancient Observatories

Part 1



NASA Connect

Ancient Observatories

Part 2



Observatories and Telescopes



Hayden Planetarium

American Museum of Natural History

New York

Charlie Rose

February 11th, 2000

City Observatory, Calton Hill--Edinburgh, Scotland

Eden Prairie, Minnesota and their free telescope

LAMOST ushers in "Year of Astronomy"

Lick Observatory...100 years of astronomy

October 2nd, 1608/October 3rd, 1947...optics/telescope

Old observatories

Oldest operating public telescope--Mount Lookout

Palomar Observatory

PBS Palomar documentary

PBS--Palomar Observatory

Photographic postcards...astronomy

Stanhengues...early astronomy?...and new digs

St. George Observatory in Schriever, Lousiana

Vatican Astronomy

Photographic postcards...astronomy

Astronomy for Children--The Lunar Eclipse
France

Halley's Comet in 1066 from the Bayeux Tapestry
France/United Kingdom

"La Lune pour deux sous" [The Moon for a penny]
France

Solar Eclipse of August the 31st, 1909
Lyon, France

The Imperial Marine Observatory
Kobe, Japan

The Moreux' Obervatory
Bourges, France

The Solar Eclipse, February the 10th, 1930
Bogota, Columbia

City Observatory, Calton Hill--Edinburgh, Scotland

It is a pity. In my community was once the oldest observatory west of the Mississippi River located on the then Park College [now Park University] campus in Parkville, Missouri. Back in the 1960's the 5" telescope provided many late night group observations and a running battle with the local power company who had installed a large light adjacent to the telescope's dome. A volley of stones would eliminate the problem for the evening's viewing pleasures and was promptly replaced by the power company sometime after we left. Again, when we returned, we eliminated the problem. Finally, after some negotiations, an on/off switch was installed inside the observatory. Unfortunately, years of little interest and neglect and a fire sealed the observatory's fate. The telescope was removed and placed in storage somewhere and the structure removed.

I am surprised that the lead roof parts were stolen for scrap. Lead is not high on the scrap metal value list. Two to ten cents a pound is not much incentive.

"Astronomy head's observatory fear"

by

Sue Gyford

December 15th, 2008

Edinburgh Evening News

THE Astronomer Royal for Scotland has hit out at the "utterly shocking" condition of the City Observatory on Calton Hill, as the amateur stargazers based there prepare to abandon it.

John Brown, who is also honorary president of the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh, called for extra security at the observatory after repeated thefts of lead from the roof left the inside sodden.

The ASE are preparing to move out because of the damp after meeting there for the last 55 years.

Mr Brown said: "The place is a disgrace, it's unfit for human habitation. There's water pouring down the walls, the toilets have been knackered for months, there are 200-year-old instruments at risk. It would just make you cry."

He urged the owners – the city council – to urgently look at extra investment in the building and more security to save it falling into disrepair.

Graham Rule, ASE secretary, said the ceiling had continued to leak after the council carried out initial repairs following the theft of lead from the roof.

"The council have now put a covering on which should stop water getting in again, but the building timbers have been waterlogged. My guess is that they're going to start rotting," he said.

"We can't carry on meeting there. I would hope we would still have access to the one telescope that's still usable."

The Observatory, designed by William Playfair and built in 1818, contains three historic telescopes, the oldest dating from 1833. One is covered in a tarpaulin to protect it from water and a second has been moved to the only dry room in the building. The remaining working telescope, installed in the dome, dates from 1896.

Mr Rule said vandalism had also forced the closure of the toilets. "It's always been a bit embarrassing because when we take our speakers out for a meal, we have to say 'You might want to go to the toilet now before we go up the hill'," he added.

The ASE used to meet weekly at the Observatory, but that has reduced to once a month because conditions are so poor. They will meet on January 9 to discuss their future at the Observatory.

A council spokesman said: "To date £16,000 has been spent on repairs to the Playfair roof but a large investment is required for lead and copper repairs following thefts."

Adam Wilkinson, director of Edinburgh World Heritage, set up to protect Edinburgh's status as a UNESCO World Heritage site, added: "We are all working towards a long term solution, but clearly there are short term issues that need to be resolved."

-----

The City Observatory comprises three buildings on Calton Hill in Edinburgh; the Old, New and City Observatories. The Old Observatory (now Observatory House) was built in 1776 as a commercial enterprise by Thomas Short (d.1788), an optician from Leith. He leased the land and, by promising access to students, gained access to funds collected by Professor Colin Maclaurin (1698-1746) some 35 years previously. Observatory House is an early example of the gothic-revival style and one of few surviving buildings by James Craig (1744-95), planner of the New Town. Craig took advice from Robert Adam (1728-92), who suggested the castellated appearance.

By the early 19th Century the building was disused. It was acquired by the new Edinburgh Astronomical Institution (founded 1811) which erected in 1812 the New Observatory, a building designed by William Playfair (1789-1857) and looking more like a temple. Playfair also designed the nearby monument to his Uncle, John Playfair (1748-1819), who had been first President of the Institution.

One of the functions of the institution was time-keeping; ensuring that ships at Leith could accurately set their chronometers. Initially the mariners had to walk up to Calton Hill, but later the time-ball on Nelson's Monument was used as a signal. In 1822, during his visit to Edinburgh, King George IV made the institution a Royal Observatory and government funding and official responsibilities followed. This new role was not best served by a location effected by smoke from the City and nearby railway. Thus the Astronomer Royal moved the institution to Blackford Hill in 1895 and the old buildings were acquired by the city. The City Dome was added the same year and brewer William McEwan (1827 - 1913) donated a six-inch telescope to mark the opening of the City Observatory. The Astronomical Society of Edinburgh (founded 1924) now runs the facility on behalf of the city. It is open to the public and includes various telescopes and a library.

A plaque was unveiled on Old Observatory House by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh on the 31st October 1994, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of James Craig (1744-95).

Vatican Astronomy

The Vatican has other interests too--astronomy and a rare book collection.

Castel Gandolfo
Italy

Zeiss Double Astrograph

Schmidt Telescope

And in conjunction with the Mount Graham International Observatory in southeastern Arizona forming the Vatican Observatory Research Group [VORG]. The Graham facility uses the Alice P. Lennon Telescope [Steward Observatory]. The whole group along with the Thomas J. Bannan Astrophysics Facility forms the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope [VATT].

Steward Observatory

Alice P. Lennon Telescope
Steward Observatory

Department of Astronomy and the Steward Observatory--University of Arizona

Steward Observatory

Vatican Observatory

Elements

by

Euclid

Works

by

Archimedes

Almagest

by

Ptolemy

Vatican Exhibit Main Hall

Old observatories

Soon they will be structures of the past...a pity.