Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

astronomy and Earth's

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

. In 2018, Armagh Observatory was recognized for having 224 years of unbroken weather records.

History

The Observatory is located close to the centre of the city of Armagh, adjacent to the

Armagh Planetarium Armagh Planetarium is a planetarium located in Armagh, Northern Ireland close to the city centre and neighbouring Armagh Observatory in approximately fourteen acres of landscaped grounds known as the Armagh Astropark. History Armagh Planeta ...

in approximately of landscaped grounds known as the Armagh Astropark. It was founded in 1789 by

The Most Rev. The Most Reverend is a style applied to certain religious figures, primarily within the historic denominations of Christianity, but occasionally in some more modern traditions also. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Anglic ...

and

Rt Hon. ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...

The 1st Baron Rokeby,

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

Lord Primate of All Ireland and Lord Archbishop of Armagh. In 1795 through 1797 Solar observations were made at Armagh, including measurements of

sunspot Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection. Sun ...

s. Ernst Julius Öpik (grandfather of

Lembit Öpik Lembit Öpik (, ; born 2 March 1965) is a former British politician. A former member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the ...

MP) was based here for over 30 years and among his many contributions to astrophysics he wrote of the dangers of an asteroid impacting on the Earth. One of the observatory's directors, Thomas Robinson invented the cup anemometer. (a device for measuring wind speed) In 1949, a plan was put forth to establish an

. Eventually, in 1968 the Planetarium was founded, under its first Director,

Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore was president of the Brit ...

. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. In 2018, the observatory was given an award by Centennial Weather Station Award from the World Meteorological Organisation for 224 years of unbroken weather recordings. The records go back to 1794 and are also made available on the internet in the early 21st century. In modern times the Observatory along with the nearby Planetarium and 14-acre Astropark are noted tourist attraction and education centre. The gardens, historical telescopes, and various astronomically related devices such as sundials are among some of the exhibits for visitors.

Facilities

There are scale models of the Solar System and the Universe, two sundials and historic telescopes, as well as telescope domes and other outdoor exhibits. The Human Orrery, launched in 2004, is located close to the main Observatory building. The Observatory's specialist library and archives, and collections of scientific instruments and artefacts associated with the development of modern astronomy, represent one of the leading collections of its kind in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

Instruments

Troughton Troughton is a surname, and may refer to * Alice Troughton, British film and television director, not related to Patrick Troughton * Bob Troughton (1904–1988), Australian rules footballer * Charles Troughton (1916–1991), British businessman * ...

refracting telescope of 2.5 inch

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An opt ...

was installed in a dome in 1795. The telescope was manufactured by J & E Troughton of London, and is noted for its late 18th century

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

metal work. This is also called the Troughton Equatorial Telescope, for having an

equatorial mount An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that compensates for Earth's rotation by having one rotational axis, the polar axis, parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescopes and cameras. The ...

ing. The observatory has an Earnshaw Regulator. It is a type of clock invented in 1791 by

Thomas Earnshaw Thomas Earnshaw (4 February 1749 in Ashton-under-Lyne – 1 March 1829 in London) was an English watchmaker who, following John Arnold's earlier work, further simplified the process of marine chronometer production, making them available to the ...

which was valued for its accuracy. Earnshaw travelled with it to Armagh to set it up in the new Observatory. In the early 1800s it was reported to have a

mural circle A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

instrument. Another instrument at the observatory is a

sunshine recorder A sunshine recorder is a device that records the amount of sunshine at a given location or region at any time. The results provide information about the weather and climate as well as the temperature of a geographical area. This information is u ...

. In the 1830s the observatory bought a 15-inch reflecting telescope from Grubb. The telescope used a metal mirror mounted on an equatorial mount with clockwork-drive. In 1885, a ten-inch aperture objective lens telescope was installed, also a Grubb telescope. This was installed in the Robinson dome. The observatory also has some meridian marks in the area, which look like stone arches that were used to mark the location of the meridian for astronomical instruments. There is also another that is an iron obelisk. The first meridian mark was built in 1793, and is in Tullyard, and it was used with the transit instrument. In 2005, two wide-angle cameras for a meteor detection systems were installed.

Research

The records of temperature take at Armagh Observatory between 1844 and 2004 were analyzed in 2006 research paper.

List of directors

References

External links

*
A Visit to Armagh Observatory
AAVSO {{Authority control Infrastructure completed in 1789 Astronomical observatories in Northern Ireland

Observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

Tourist attractions in County Armagh Science museums in Northern Ireland Grade A listed buildings 1789 establishments in Ireland Research institutes in the United Kingdom Astronomy institutes and departments