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Comet Seeker
A comet seeker is a type of small telescope adapted especially to searching for comets: commonly of short focal length and large aperture, in order to secure the greatest brilliancy of light. This style of telescope was used to discover the asteroid 9 Metis in 1848. ;Design A comet seeker telescope is a type of optical device that is known for having a short focal length but a wide field of view. ;Examples A comet seeker with about 3.9 inch aperture was installed at the United States Naval Observatory in 1843, and later transferred to the Smithsonian Museum in 1866. It had an aperture of 4 inches (10.2 cm) and was made by Utzschneider & Fraunhofer in Munich. This was operated as part of suite of several other instruments including a larger refractor on an equatorial mounting, a meridian transit, mural circle, etc. Markree Observatory added a 3-inch aperture Comet Seeker on an equatorial mount by Ertel. It was ordered in 1842, and in place until 1874. The Markree Comet S ...
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Markree Observatory
Markree Observatory was an astronomical observatory in County Sligo, Ireland. The asteroid 9 Metis was discovered from this observatory in 1848 by Cooper's assistant Andrew Graham using a comet seeker telescope. (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 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. 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 In 1830, Colonel Edward Joshua Cooper MP (1798–1863) eldest son of Edward Synge Cooper MP, and Ann, daughter of Henry Vansittart, Governor of Bengal, ...
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List Of Largest Optical Telescopes In The 19th Century
List of largest optical telescopes in the 19th century, are listings of what were, for the time period of the 19th century large optical telescopes. See List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century for the 1900s. The list includes various refractor and reflector that were active some time between about 1799 to 1901. The main reflecting technology early on, speculum metal reflected some 2/3 of light, and also had higher maintenance due to tarnishing. Another technology were the 2-element refractors, which were extensively used in 19th century observatories despite their small apertures compared to the largest metal mirror, and later glass telescopes. The technology for silver-coated glass mirrors was developed in the mid-19th century, but was slow to catch on. A major technology advance of this time was the development of astrophotography, and some telescopes were tailored to this application. Also, a wide variety of scientific instruments were developed, such as for spec ...
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List Of Telescope Types
The following are lists of devices categorized as types of telescopes or devices associated with telescopes. They are broken into major classifications with many variations due to professional, amateur, and commercial sub-types. Telescopes can be classified by optical design or mechanical design/construction. Telescopes can also be classified by where they are placed, such as space telescopes. One major determining factor is type of light, or particle being observed including devices referred to as "telescopes" that do not form an image or use optics. Some telescopes are classified by the task they perform; for example Solar telescopes are all designs that look at the Sun, Dobsonian telescopes are designed to be low cost and portable, Aerial telescopes overcame the optical shortcomings of 17th-century objective lenses, etc. List of optical telescope types Optical telescopes can be classified by three primary optical designs (refractor, reflector, or catadioptric), by sub-designs o ...
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Marseille Observatory
Marseille Observatory (french: Observatoire de Marseille) is an astronomical observatory located in Marseille, France, with a history that goes back to the early 18th century. In its 1877 incarnation, it was the discovery site of a group of galaxies known as Stephan's Quintet, discovered by its director Édouard Stephan. Marseille Observatory is now run as a joint research unit by Aix-Marseille University and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). The old Palais Longchamps facilities are a noted tourist destination in Marseilles area, and a planetarium was also added in 2001. One of the noted exhibits is the Foucault glass-mirror telescope, and various items from centuries of astronomical activities. Foucault's telescope is a noted historical example because it was the forerunner of the modern style of big reflecting telescopes which use a minute layer of metal on a figured piece of glass. Before this, the main technology was to make the whole mirror of m ...
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Bonn Observatory
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region, Germany's largest metropolitan area, with over 11 million inhabitants. It is a university of Bonn, university city and the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven. Founded in the 1st century BC as a Roman Empire, Roman settlement in the province Germania Inferior, Bonn is one of Germany's oldest cities. It was the capital city of the Electorate of Cologne from 1597 to 1794, and residence of the Archbishops and Prince-electors of Archbishopric of Cologne, Cologne. From 1949 to 1990, Bonn was the Capital of Germany, capital of West Germany, and Germany's present constitution, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Basic Law, was declared in the city in 1949. The era when Bonn served as the capital of West Germany is referred to ...
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Bonner Durchmusterung
In astronomy, Durchmusterung or Bonner Durchmusterung (BD) is an astrometric star catalogue of the whole sky, compiled by the Bonn Observatory in Germany from 1859 to 1903. The name comes from ('run-through examination'), a German word used for a systematic survey of objects or data. The term has sometimes been used for other astronomical surveys, including not only stars, but also the search for other celestial objects. Special tasks include celestial scanning in electromagnetic wavelengths shorter or longer than visible light waves. Original catalog The 44 years of work on the Bonner Durchmusterung (abbreviated BD), initiated by Friedrich Argelander and largely carried out by his assistants, resulted in a catalogue of the positions and apparent magnitudes of approximately 325,000 stars to apparent magnitude 9–10. The catalogue was accompanied by charts plotting the positions of the stars, and was the basis for the '' Astronomische Gesellschaft Katalog'' (AGK) and ''Smithsoni ...
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Orion Nebula
The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky with apparent magnitude 4.0. It is away and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light-years across (so its apparent size from Earth is approximately 1 degree). It has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula. The Orion Nebula is one of the most scrutinized and photographed objects in the night sky and is among the most intensely studied celestial features.Press release,Astronomers Spot The Great Orion Nebula's Successor", Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 2006. The nebula has revealed much about the process of how stars and planetary systems are form ...
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The Observatory (journal)
''The Observatory'' is a publication, variously described as a journal, a magazine and a review, devoted to astronomy. It appeared regularly starting in 1877, and it is now published every two months. The current editors are David Stickland, Bob Argyle and Steve Fossey. Although it is not published by the Royal Astronomical Society, it publishes the reports of its meetings. Other features are the extensive book reviews and "Here and There", a collection of misprints and ridiculous statements of astronomical interest. The founder and first editor (1877–1882) was William Christie, then chief assistant at the Royal Observatory and later Astronomer Royal. Notable subsequent editors include: * Arthur Eddington (1913–1919) * Harold Spencer Jones (1915–1923) * Richard van der Riet Woolley (1933–1939) * William McCrea (1935–1937) * Margaret Burbidge (1948–1951) * Antony Hewish (1957–1961) * Donald Lynden-Bell (1967–1969) * Carole Jordan (1968–1973) * Jocelyn Bel ...
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United States Naval Observatory
United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, it is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, and remains the country's leading authority for astronomical and timing data for all purposes. The observatory is located in Northwest Washington, D.C. at the northwestern end of Embassy Row. It is among the few pre-20th century astronomical observatories located in an urban area; initially located in Foggy Bottom near the city's center, it was relocated to its current location in 1893 to escape light pollution. The USNO has conducted significant scientific studies throughout its history, including measuring the speed of light, observing solar eclipses, and discovering the moons of Mars. Its achievements including providing data for the first ra ...
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Comet 67P On 19 September 2014 NavCam Mosaic
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena are due to the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind acting upon the nucleus of the comet. Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of kilometers across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust, and small rocky particles. The coma may be up to 15 times Earth's diameter, while the tail may stretch beyond one astronomical unit. If sufficiently bright, a comet may be seen from Earth without the aid of a telescope and may subtend an arc of 30° (60 Moons) across the sky. Comets have been observed and recorded since ancient times by many cultures and religions. Comets usually have highly eccentric elliptical orbits, and they have a wide range of orbital periods, ranging from several years to potentially several milli ...
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9 Metis
Metis ( minor planet designation: 9 Metis) is one of the larger main-belt asteroids. It is composed of silicates and metallic nickel-iron, and may be the core remnant of a large asteroid that was destroyed by an ancient collision. Metis is estimated to contain just under half a percent of the total mass of the asteroid belt. Metis passed within 0.034AU, or , of Vesta on 19 August 2004. Discovery and naming Metis was discovered by Andrew Graham on 25 April 1848, at Markree Observatory in Ireland; it was his only asteroid discovery. It also has been the only asteroid to have been discovered as a result of observations from Ireland until 7 October 2008, when, 160 years later, Dave McDonald from observatory J65 discovered (281507) 2008 TM9. Its name comes from the mythological Metis, a Titaness and Oceanid, daughter of Tethys and Oceanus. The name ''Thetis'' was also considered and rejected (it would later devolve to 17 Thetis). Characteristics Lightcurve-based 3D-m ...
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