Hamburg Observatory (german: Hamburger Sternwarte) is an
astronomical
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies ...
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 ...
located in the
Bergedorf
Bergedorf () is the largest of the seven boroughs of Hamburg, Germany, named after Bergedorf quarter within this borough. In 2020 the population of the borough was 130,994.
History
The city of Bergedorf received town privileges in 1275, then ...
borough of the city of Hamburg in northern Germany. It is owned and operated by the
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
since 1968, although it was founded in 1825 by the City of Hamburg and moved to its present location in 1912. It has operated telescopes at Bergedorf, at two previous locations in Hamburg, at other observatories around the world, and it has also supported space missions.
The largest
near-Earth object
A near-Earth object (NEO) is any small Solar System body whose orbit brings it into proximity with Earth. By convention, a Solar System body is a NEO if its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) is less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU). ...
was discovered at this Observatory by German astronomer
Walter Baade
Wilhelm Heinrich Walter Baade (March 24, 1893 – June 25, 1960) was a German astronomer who worked in the United States from 1931 to 1959.
Biography
The son of a teacher, Baade finished school in 1912. He then studied maths, physics and astr ...
at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg on 23 October 1924.
That asteroid,
1036 Ganymed is about 20 miles (35 km) in diameter.
The Hamburg 1-meter
reflector telescope
A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...
(first light 1911) was one of the biggest telescopes in Europe at that time, and by some measures the fourth largest in the World.
The Observatory also has an old style
Great Refractor
Great refractor refers to a large telescope with a lens, usually the largest refractor at an observatory with an equatorial mount. The preeminence and success of this style in observational astronomy defines an era in modern telescopy in the 19t ...
(a ''Großen Refraktor''), a long telescope with a lens (60 cm/~23.6 in aperture) with a tube focal length of 9 meters (~10 yards), and there is also a smaller one from the 19th century that has survived.
Another historical item of significance is the first and original
Schmidt telescope
Schmidt may refer to:
* Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname
* Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer
* Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater
* Schmidt (Martian crater), a crater on Mars
* ...
, a type noted for its wide-field views.
Among its achievements, the director of the Observatory won the 1854 Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for an 1852
star catalog
A star catalogue is an astronomical catalogue that lists stars. In astronomy, many stars are referred to simply by catalogue numbers. There are a great many different star catalogues which have been produced for different purposes over the years, ...
.
History
Stintfang (1802–1811)
The precursor of Hamburg Observatory was a quasi-private observatory by
Johann Georg Repsold
Johann Georg Repsold (19 September 1770 – 14 January 1830) was a German astronomer and fireman. He began to make astronomic instruments mainly for his own use and his third son Adolf Repsold went on to establish a well-known astronomical i ...
built in 1802, originally located at the Stintfang in Hamburg. It was built in the city with permission of the Congress.
It started in 1803, and had a
meridian circle
The meridian circle is an instrument for timing of the passage of stars across the local meridian, an event known as a culmination, while at the same time measuring their angular distance from the nadir. These are special purpose telescopes moun ...
built by Repsold .
However, it was destroyed in 1811 by a war. Repsold, Reinke, and J.C. von Hess submitted a proposal to Hamburg for city observatory that same year, to rebuild.
Millerntor (1825–1906)
Funding for a new Observatory was approved in August 1821, on the condition J. G. Repsold built the instruments. The new observatory was completed in 1825 next to the Millerntor. However, in 1830 Repsold died while fighting a fire (he was also a Hamburg fireman) and the City of Hamburg voted to take over and continue running the observatory in 1833. First director became
Charles Rümker
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...
who had accompanied
Thomas Brisbane
Major General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet, (23 July 1773 – 27 January 1860), was a British Army officer, administrator, and astronomer. Upon the recommendation of the Duke of Wellington, with whom he had served, he was appoint ...
to build the first Australian observatory at
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
.
Christian August Friedrich Peters
Christian August Friedrich Peters (7 September 1806 – 8 May 1880) was a German astronomer. He was the father of astronomer Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Peters. He was born in Hamburg and died in Kiel.
Peters was the son of a merchant and, although ...
became assistant director in 1834. In 1856 Rümker's son
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
became director of the observatory.
In 1854 Carl Rumaker won the
Gold Medal from the Royal Society for year, for his 1852 Star catalog, which had the positions of 12000 stars.
In 1876 funding was received for 'The Equatorial', a refractor; it was later moved to Bergedorf.
After the move to Bergedorf, the site was partially demolished and rebuilt into the Museum of Hamburg History (
Hamburgmuseum
The Museum for Hamburg History () is a history museum located in the city of Hamburg in northern Germany. The museum was established in 1908 and opened at its current location in 1922, although its parent organization was founded in 1839. The muse ...
/ Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte).
Bergedorf (1912–present)
![Bdstern 5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Bdstern_5.jpg)
Because of the increasing
light pollution
Light pollution is the presence of unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive use of artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting, during the day ...
, in 1906 it was decided to move the observatory to Bergedorf. In 1909 the first instruments were moved there, and in 1912 the new observatory was officially dedicated.
One of the overall design elements of Bergeforf, is that each instrument was placed in its own building, rather than integrated in one large building.
Two new instruments for the Bergedorf location were the 60 cm (~23.6 inch) aperture Great Refractor by Reposold, and Meridian Circle. One unique feature of Hamburg Great Refractor is an
Iris
Iris most often refers to:
*Iris (anatomy), part of the eye
*Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess
* ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants
* Iris (color), an ambiguous color term
Iris or IRIS may also refer to:
Arts and media
Fictional ent ...
control that allows the aperture to be adjusted from 5 to 60 cm.
Two lens were produced by Steinheil, one for photography and another for visual observing, both delivered in the early 1910s.
The
European Southern Observatory
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 mem ...
(ESO) was founded at Bergedorf in 1962. That organization put a lot telescopes in the southern hemisphere, which is not as viewable from northern part of Earth.
The Hamburg 1 m Reflector (39″/100 cm objective aperture) was the world's fourth largest reflector when it began operations in 1911. Catalogs include the AGK3-Sternkatalog (completed over 1956-1964)
In 1968 the observatory became part of
Hamburg University
The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...
. In 1979 a small museum to Bernard Schmidt was inaugurated.
In 2012, 100 years at Bergedorf was celebrated.
In 2019, the Great Refractor building was re-open in June after it was modernized.
1-meter reflector
The 1 meter reflector at Hamburg Observatory was the largest by aperture in Germany, and one of the largest in Europe, and was also among the largest telescopes of any type in the World at that time.
;Largest telescopes (all types) in 1911)
Note that the prevailing glass mirror technology at this time was silver-coated glass, not vapour-deposited aluminium which did not debut until several decades later.
Speculum metal
Speculum metal is a mixture of around two-thirds copper and one-third tin, making a white brittle alloy that can be polished to make a highly reflective surface. It was used historically to make different kinds of mirrors from personal grooming ...
mirror reflected something like 2/3 of the light, and the lens telescopes were popular for their virtues but had enormous and expensive domes due to their long focal length (also they had issues with
chromatic aberration
In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the wave ...
that were solved in a different way by reflecting designs).
Telescopes
![Meridian circle building at Hamburg Observatory 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Meridian_circle_building_at_Hamburg_Observatory_03.jpg)
;Telescopes
* The Great Refractor, a
great refractor
Great refractor refers to a large telescope with a lens, usually the largest refractor at an observatory with an equatorial mount. The preeminence and success of this style in observational astronomy defines an era in modern telescopy in the 19t ...
telescope with an objective diameter (60 cm) and focal length (9 m). By Repsold, and with optics from Steinheil. (The observatory's ''Großen Refraktor'')
* The Equatorial, a refractor with aperture of 26 cm and focal length. Built in the 1870s and moved to Bergedorf.
* Salvador Mirror, a
Cassegrain with 8 m focal length and 40 cm mirror.
* The Meridian Circle, a
meridian circle
The meridian circle is an instrument for timing of the passage of stars across the local meridian, an event known as a culmination, while at the same time measuring their angular distance from the nadir. These are special purpose telescopes moun ...
built in 1907. (by A. Repsold & Söhne)
*
Lippert Telescope, three
astrographs refractors on one mount. Built by
Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practica ...
, funded by
Eduard Lippert
* 1 Meter Reflector Telescope, activated in 1911. By
Carl Zeiss
Carl Zeiss (; 11 September 1816 – 3 December 1888) was a German scientific instrument maker, optician and businessman. In 1846 he founded his workshop, which is still in business as Carl Zeiss AG. Zeiss gathered a group of gifted practica ...
. The largest telescope in Germany from 1911 to 1920
* Astrograph, with 8.5 cm objective, focal length 2.06 m. Built in 1924.
* ''Schmidtspiegel'', the first Schmidt telescope by Bernhard Schmidt. Now part of a
Schmidt Museum
* Photographic refractor (Zonenastrograph), an instrument funded by the
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
(DFG) in 1973. 23 cm diameter aperture and 205.3 cm focal length. It was built by
Carl Zeiss Oberkochen Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
* Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of te ...
.
*
Oskar-Lühning Telescope, s
Ritchey-Chretien with 1.20 m aperture diameter and a focal length of 15.60m in the Cassegrain focus. Built in 1975 and refurbished as
robotic telescope
A robotic telescope is an astronomical telescope and detector system that makes observations without the intervention of a human. In astronomical disciplines, a telescope qualifies as robotic if it makes those observations without being operated ...
in 2001.
* A planned large
Schmidt telescope
Schmidt may refer to:
* Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname
* Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer
* Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater
* Schmidt (Martian crater), a crater on Mars
* ...
was finished in 1954 and moved to
Calar Alto Observatory
The Calar Alto Observatory (Centro Astronómico Hispano en Andalucía or "Spanish Astronomical Centre in Andalusia") is an astronomical observatory located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a mountain in the Sierra de Los Filabres ra ...
in 1976, with the Oskar-Lühning taking over its spot in the Observatory.
*
Hamburg Robotic Telescope (HRT) was built by
Halfmann Teleskoptechnik
Halfmann Teleskoptechnik is a German-based manufacturer of professional robotic telescopes.
Origins and history
The professional branch of the company started in 1996 with delivery of special devices (siderostats) for the European Southern Obser ...
. It was tested in 2002, and went online in 2005.
Offsite telescopes
* In 1968 a 38 cm reflector was set up by the Hamburg Observatory at
Stephanion Observatory
The point where the upper temporal line cuts the coronal suture is named the stephanion.
References
External links
Item #22(sourchere
Skull
{{Portal bar, Anatomy ...
in Greece.
* The aforementioned Schmidt was moved to
Calar Alto Observatory
The Calar Alto Observatory (Centro Astronómico Hispano en Andalucía or "Spanish Astronomical Centre in Andalusia") is an astronomical observatory located in Almería province in Spain on Calar Alto, a mountain in the Sierra de Los Filabres ra ...
in 1976. Some work was done with data from
Effelsberg
The Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope is a radio telescope in the Ahr Hills (part of the Eifel) in Bad Münstereifel, Germany. For 29 years the Effelsberg Radio Telescope was the largest fully steerable radio telescope on Earth, surpassing the ...
* The HRT telescope has been installed in March 2013 in Guanajuato, Mexico at the LaLuz Observatory of the University of Guanajuato. It is now in successful operation under its new name TIGRE. The costs and observing time are shared according to a trilateral agreement between the Universities of Liege, Guanajuato and Hamburg, the latter still leading the effort.
People of Hamburg Observatory
Directors of the Observatory:
*
Johann Georg Repsold
Johann Georg Repsold (19 September 1770 – 14 January 1830) was a German astronomer and fireman. He began to make astronomic instruments mainly for his own use and his third son Adolf Repsold went on to establish a well-known astronomical i ...
(from 1802–1830)
*
Christian Karl Ludwig Rümker (director from 1833–1857)
*
George Rümker
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd President ...
(director from 1857–1900)
*
Richard Schorr
Richard Reinhard Emil Schorr (20 August 1867, Kassel – 21 September 1951, Badgastein, Salzburg), was a German astronomer.
Biography
From 1889 to 1891, Schorr worked as an assistant editor of Astronomische Nachrichten, at the observatory at K ...
(1900–1941)
*
Otto Heckmann
Otto Hermann Leopold Heckmann (June 23, 1901 – May 13, 1983) was a German astronomer.
He directed the Hamburg Observatory from 1941 to 1962, after which he became the first director of the European Southern Observatory. He actively contrib ...
(1941–1968) 1962 became 1st head of the newly formed
European Southern Observatory
The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory (ESO), is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 mem ...
*
Alfred Behr (1968–1979)
* Co-Director with Behr: (1969–1992)
Bernhard Schmidt
Bernhard Woldemar Schmidt (, Nargen – 1 December 1935, Hamburg) was an Estonian optician. In 1930 he invented the Schmidt telescope which corrected for the optical errors of spherical aberration, coma, and astigmatism, making possible for t ...
, inventor of the
Schmidt camera
A Schmidt camera, also referred to as the Schmidt telescope, is a catadioptric astrophotographic telescope designed to provide wide fields of view with limited aberrations. The design was invented by Bernhard Schmidt in 1930.
Some notable exa ...
worked at the Observatory including making telescopes, instruments, and observations starting in 1916.
Walter Baade
Wilhelm Heinrich Walter Baade (March 24, 1893 – June 25, 1960) was a German astronomer who worked in the United States from 1931 to 1959.
Biography
The son of a teacher, Baade finished school in 1912. He then studied maths, physics and astr ...
successfully petitioned the
Hamburg senate
The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ...
to have Schmidt camera installed in 1937, and it was completed in 1954 after work restarted on in 1951 after being interrupted by WWII. Walter Baade also succeeded in having a Schmidt camera built at
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Observatory is an astronomical research observatory in San Diego County, California, United States, in the Palomar Mountain Range. It is owned and operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Research time at the observat ...
in California.
In 1928,
Kasimir Graff
Kasimir Romuald Graff (7 February 1878 – 15 February 1950) was a Polish-German astronomer. He worked as an assistant at the Hamburg Observatory and became a professor at Hamburg in 1916. In 1928 he became director of the Vienna Observatory, Au ...
made many observations at Hamburg until he left for the
Vienna Observatory
The Vienna Observatory (german: Universitätssternwarte Wien) is an astronomical observatory in Vienna, Austria. It is part of the University of Vienna. The first observatory was built in 1753–1754 on the roof of one of the university buildings ...
.
In 2009,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n pop star, singer and composer
Ike Moriz
Eike Moriz (born May 14, 1972), better known as Ike Moriz, is a German-South African singer, songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. He has released 20 albums in the indie rock, pop, Latin, easy listening, dance, lounge, blues, jazz an ...
filmed a music video called 'Starry Night' both inside and outside the observatory buildings. It features the Equatorial refractor telescope as well as the library and garden areas. He also sang at the 100th anniversary exhibition 'Vision Sternwarte'.
Association
Due to the difficult economic situation of the observatory, the "Förderverein Hamburger Sternwarte e.V." was founded in 1998.
The goals of the association are primarily to preserve the buildings and astronomical equipment of the observatory in accordance with the preservation order. In addition, it does public relations work and aims to open up parts of the site to the public in the future. The application for a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
, which has been running since 2012, is an important focus of their work.
See also
*
List of astronomical observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in ...
*
List of largest optical telescopes in the 20th century
The following is a list of the largest optical telescopes in the 20th century, paying special attention to the diameter of the mirror or lens of the telescope's objective, or aperture. Aperture rank currently goes approximately by the usable physi ...
References
Bibliography
* ''Die Hamburger Sternwarte.'' ("The Hamburg Observatory"), Report on the Hamburg Observatory by R. Schorr, English Translation by Hamburg Observatory
* ''Einleitung zum Jahresbericht der Sternwarte Bergedorf für das Jahr 1906'' ("The annual report for the Bergedorf Observatory for 1906), English Translation by Hamburg Observatory
* Agnes Seemann: ''Die Hamburger Sternwarte in Bergedorf''. In: Lichtwark-Heft Nr. 73. Verlag HB-Werbung, Hamburg-Bergedorf, 2008. .
* Jochen Schramm: ''Die Bergedorfer Sternwarte im Dritten Reich''. In: Lichtwark-Heft Nr. 58. Hrsg. Lichtwark-Ausschuß, Hamburg-Bergedorf, 1993.
* J. Schramm, Sterne über Hamburg - Die Geschichte der Astronomie in Hamburg, 2. überarbeite und erweiterte Auflage
Kultur- & Geschichtskontor Hamburg 2010,
External links
Hamburg Observatory
{{Authority control
Astronomical observatories in Germany
Buildings and structures in Bergedorf
University of Hamburg
Museums in Hamburg
Education in Hamburg
Science museums in Germany
1909 establishments in Germany