George Bishop's Observatory (

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

969 Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th ...

) was an

astronomical 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 ...

erected in 1836 by the astronomer George Bishop near his residence at the South Villa of Regent's Park,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It was equipped with a Dollond refractor.

Description

The Reverend

William Rutter Dawes William Rutter Dawes (19 March 1799 – 15 February 1868) was an English astronomer. Biography Dawes was born at Christ's Hospital then in the City of London (it moved to Horsham, West Sussex in 1902), the son of William Dawes, also an astro ...

conducted his noted investigations of

double stars In observational astronomy, a double star or visual double is a pair of stars that appear close to each other as viewed from Earth, especially with the aid of optical telescopes. This occurs because the pair either forms a binary star (i.e. a bi ...

at the observatory from 1839 to 1844;

John Russell Hind John Russell Hind FRS FRSE LLD (12 May 1823 – 23 December 1895) was an English astronomer. Life and work John Russell Hind was born in 1823 in Nottingham, the son of lace manufacturer John Hind and Elizabeth Russell, and was educated at ...

began his career there in October of the following year. From the time that

Karl Ludwig Hencke Karl Ludwig Hencke (8 April 1793 – 21 September 1866) was a German amateur astronomer and discoverer of minor planets. He is sometimes confused with Johann Franz Encke, another German astronomer. Biography Hencke was born in Driesen, Branden ...

's detection of Astræa, 8 Dec. 1845, showed a prospect of success in the search for new planets, the resources of Bishop's observatory were turned in that direction, and with conspicuous results. Between 1847 and 1854 Hind discovered ten minor planets at the observatory, and

Albert Marth Albert Marth (5 May 1828 – 6 August 1897) was a German astronomer who worked in England and Ireland. Life After studying theology at the University of Berlin, his interest in astronomy and mathematics led him to study astronomy under C. A ...

one. Other notable astronomers to use the observatory included

Eduard Vogel Eduard Vogel (7 March 1829February 1856) was a German explorer in Central Africa. Early career Vogel was born in Krefeld. He studied mathematics, botany and astronomy at Leipzig and Berlin, studying with Encke at the latter institution. In 1 ...

, Charles George Talmage, and

Norman Robert Pogson Norman Robert Pogson, CIE (23 March 1829 – 23 June 1891) was an English astronomer who worked in India at the Madras observatory. He discovered several minor planets and made observations on comets. He introduced a mathematical scale of stel ...

. The observatory closed when Bishop died in 1861, and in 1863 the instruments and dome were moved to the residence of George Bishop, junior, at Meadowbank,

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, where a new observatory was constructed to follow the same system of work. Twickenham Observatory closed in 1877 and the instruments were given to the

Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte The Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte ( it, Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, italic=no) is the Neapolitan department of Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (National Institute for Astrophysics, INAF), the most important Italian instit ...

in Italy. Regent's College London now stands on the site of the observatory.

Minor planets discovered

The following

minor planet According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term ''minor ...

s were discovered at George Bishop's Observatory:

References

{{use dmy dates, date=April 2013 Defunct astronomical observatories Former buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden Former buildings and structures in the City of Westminster