Philosophy
by
Ann Thompson
April 12th, 2013
WVXU
The Cincinnati Observatory is celebrating an anniversary this weekend. It was 168 years ago that a prominent Cincinnatian made the city the "Birthplace of American Astronomy."
Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel must have been a pretty convincing guy. In the mid-1800s he went door to door to collect 25 dollar donations for a telescope and observatory. Cincinnati Observatory Outreach Astronomer Dean Regas tells the story.
"Here's this guy. He comes over to your house and he says can I have $25, which is equivalent to a month's salary. he got hundreds of people to sign on to this project. I mean imagine somebody coming to your door and saying can I have some money for a telescope I don't have for an observatory that's not built?"
In exchange the investors eventually got unlimited access to the telescope. It didn't take long for MacKnight Mitchel to get the money and then go to Bavaria to buy the telescope. But he had to build part of the observatory himself, then in Mt. Adams, because he was running out of money. It was finished in 1843.
In 1873 it moved to Mt. Lookout. Regas says it's strange to have a wooden telescope, it's a piece of art and a piece of science.
Cincinnati Observatory website
Cincinnati Observatory [Wikipedia]
- Palomar Observatory...1940 Footage Of Construction
Well, here are reels #2 and #3 of some historical footage of the construction of the Palomar Observatory. Unfortunately reel #1 has not been digitized as this time. The Online Archive of California is an initiative of the California Digital Library. ...
- Yerkes Observatory...40 Incher...otto Struve [ii]
Okay, "bigger is better"--sort of. And what's the connection with Otto Struve [II]. 150 years ago or so telescopes, the refractor type, were the "thing". Now, in 1847 the Harvard College Observatory had two 15" refracting telescopes...one of which...
- Things Disappear
Amazing how some are stored in the memory or photographs long after the actual item is gone and one often wonders what happened to that object. Near me is Park University and had high on top of a hill an observatory that had been designated as the oldest...
- "visit To An Observatory Or Planetarium?" Poll
Mueller Planetarium Have you ever visited an observatory or planetarium? Yes...9 No...0 Good to see the results. I know one voter lives very close to a famous observatory in Southern California and I bet he has worked on one. :) McDonald Observatory University...
- Vatican Astronomy
The Vatican has other interests too--astronomy and a rare book collection. Castel Gandolfo Italy Zeiss Double Astrograph Schmidt Telescope And in conjunction with the Mount Graham International Observatory in southeastern Arizona forming the Vatican...
Philosophy
Birthplace of American astronomy...the Cincinnati Observatory
"How Cincinnati became the "Birthplace of American Astronomy.""
by
Ann Thompson
April 12th, 2013
WVXU
The Cincinnati Observatory is celebrating an anniversary this weekend. It was 168 years ago that a prominent Cincinnatian made the city the "Birthplace of American Astronomy."
Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel must have been a pretty convincing guy. In the mid-1800s he went door to door to collect 25 dollar donations for a telescope and observatory. Cincinnati Observatory Outreach Astronomer Dean Regas tells the story.
"Here's this guy. He comes over to your house and he says can I have $25, which is equivalent to a month's salary. he got hundreds of people to sign on to this project. I mean imagine somebody coming to your door and saying can I have some money for a telescope I don't have for an observatory that's not built?"
In exchange the investors eventually got unlimited access to the telescope. It didn't take long for MacKnight Mitchel to get the money and then go to Bavaria to buy the telescope. But he had to build part of the observatory himself, then in Mt. Adams, because he was running out of money. It was finished in 1843.
In 1873 it moved to Mt. Lookout. Regas says it's strange to have a wooden telescope, it's a piece of art and a piece of science.
Cincinnati Observatory website
Cincinnati Observatory [Wikipedia]
- Palomar Observatory...1940 Footage Of Construction
Well, here are reels #2 and #3 of some historical footage of the construction of the Palomar Observatory. Unfortunately reel #1 has not been digitized as this time. The Online Archive of California is an initiative of the California Digital Library. ...
- Yerkes Observatory...40 Incher...otto Struve [ii]
Okay, "bigger is better"--sort of. And what's the connection with Otto Struve [II]. 150 years ago or so telescopes, the refractor type, were the "thing". Now, in 1847 the Harvard College Observatory had two 15" refracting telescopes...one of which...
- Things Disappear
Amazing how some are stored in the memory or photographs long after the actual item is gone and one often wonders what happened to that object. Near me is Park University and had high on top of a hill an observatory that had been designated as the oldest...
- "visit To An Observatory Or Planetarium?" Poll
Mueller Planetarium Have you ever visited an observatory or planetarium? Yes...9 No...0 Good to see the results. I know one voter lives very close to a famous observatory in Southern California and I bet he has worked on one. :) McDonald Observatory University...
- Vatican Astronomy
The Vatican has other interests too--astronomy and a rare book collection. Castel Gandolfo Italy Zeiss Double Astrograph Schmidt Telescope And in conjunction with the Mount Graham International Observatory in southeastern Arizona forming the Vatican...