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The Trivandrum Observatory or Thiruvananthapuram Astronomical Observatory is a scientific and astronomical observation station that was established by the Raja of Travancore Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma in 1836-37. The Raja wrote to the British Resident, Colonel
Kerala University website
*Kurian, Priya (2008
History of Astronomical Science in Kerala
Ph.D. thesis. University of Kerala. {{Portal bar, India, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in India
The Trivandrum Observatory or Thiruvananthapuram Astronomical Observatory is a scientific and astronomical observation station that was established by the Raja of Travancore Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma in 1836-37. The Raja wrote to the British Resident, Colonel James Stuart Fraser
General James Stuart Fraser (1 July 1783 – 22 August 1869) was a British army officer in the Madras army in India. He was involved in the Coorg War of 1834 and the town of Kushalnagar was for sometime named after him as Fraserpet.
James was bo ...
, an amateur scientist proposing the establishment of an astronomical observatory. This led to John Caldecott
John Caldecott (16 September 1801 – 16 December 1849, Trivandrum) was an East India Company commercial agent, meteorologist and astronomer who worked in the court of the Raja of Travancore at the Trivandrum Observatory.
Caldecott was born in Fi ...
who earlier ran a small personal observatory at Allepey being appointed as the royal astronomer. The observatory was located on the highest point in the city and opposite the palace and was considered important as the magnetic equator at that time passed through Trivandrum. The observatory was designed by Lieutenant W H Horsley of the Madras Engineers.
Caldecott also began taking meteorological measurements from July 1837 and expanded to another building in 1842 that housed a Dollond equatorial circle. A ''Travancore Almanac'' was published in 1838. Caldecott travelled to Europe in 1839 to obtain additional instruments and during this period the observatory was headed by Sperschneider. Caldecott died in 1849 and from January 1852 it was headed by John Allan Broun. Broun and his assistants including J. Kochukunju (Cochoocoonjoo) and E. Kochiravi (Cocheravey) Pillai and several "computers" helped publish the Trivandrum Magnetic Observations in 1874.
The observatory is now a part of the University of Kerala
University of Kerala, formerly the University of Travancore, is a state-run public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chit ...
.
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 ...
* Madhava Observatory
References
External links
Kerala University website
*Kurian, Priya (2008
History of Astronomical Science in Kerala
Ph.D. thesis. University of Kerala. {{Portal bar, India, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in India