Shuckburgh telescope

The Shuckburgh telescope or Shuckburgh equatorial refracting telescope was a 4.1 inches (10.4 cm) diameter aperture telescope on an equatorial mount completed in 1791 for Sir George Shuckburgh (1751–1804) in Warwickshire, England, and built by British instrument maker Jesse Ramsden (1735–1800).[1][2][3][4][5] It was transferred to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in 1811 and the London Science Museum in 1929.[2] Even though it has sometimes not been regarded as particularly successful, its design was influential.[3] It was one of the larger achromatic doublet telescopes at the time, and one of the largest to have an equatorial mount.[2] It was also known as the eastern equatorial for its location.[6]

Shuckburgh telescope
Alternative namesShuckburgh equatorial refracting telescope
Location(s)United Kingdom
Telescope styleoptical telescope 
Diameter4.1 in (0.10 m)
Mountingequatorial mount 
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It was pictured in the Rees Cyclopedia of the early 1800s.[7] It was early pictured in Philosophical Transactions, published in 1793.[8]

At the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, it was for a time installed in the North Dome, although this had a Sky view partially obscured by the Octagon room.[9][10] It was earlier installed as an alt-az mount in the South dome at Greenwich, which in 1838 is where the then-new 6.7 inch aperture Sheepshanks refractor was installed.[11]

The telescope tube is 5 feet four inches long (about 1.6 meters).[9] The focal length was the same for this telescope, with object glass being doublet of 4.1 inch (~10.4 cm) aperture.[12]

Shuckburgh placed an order with Ramsden for the telescope in 1781, and it was delivered for his observatory ten years later.[13]He also ordered a clock from John Arnold & Son to use with the telescope.[13] The telescope was installed at Shuckburgh Hall, in Warwickshire, United Kingdom.[13]

Observations

The Shuckburgh/ Eastern telescope was used for the 1832 transit of Mercury with equipped with a micrometer by Dollond.[14] By observing the transit in combination with timing it and taking measures, a diameter for the planet was taken.[14] They also reported the peculiar effects that they compared to pressing a coin into the Sun.[14] The observer remarked:

I afterwards observed, that immediately around the planet there was a dusky tinge, making it appear as if, in a small degree sunk below the sun's surface;"

— Royal Astronomical Society, Vol II, No. 13[14]
Further information: Black drop effect

The Shuckburgh and the western equatorial at Greenwich are recorded as having been used for observations of the 1835 apparition of Halley's Comet.[15]

The Shuckburgh, also called the "Eastern Equatorial" at the time Halley's comet was sometimes used with a micrometer microscope.[6] For the observations of Halley's 1835, the Transit and Arnold 1 and 2 clocks were used.[6] Observations were recorded in August, September, and October, but it could not view the comet after October 19th, because its view was blocked by another part of the observatory building.[6]

The Shuckburgh is also reported to have been used for observing the occultation of stars by the Moon and observing the moons of Jupiter.[16]

See also

References
  1. Winterhalter, Albert Gustavus (1889), The International Astrophotographic Congress and a Visit to Certain European Observatories and Other Institutions: Report to the Superintendent [of the U.S. Naval Observatory]. Washington observations for 1885. Appendix I, U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 151.
  2. McConnell, Anita (2007), "Sir George Shuckburgh's Observatory", Jesse Ramsden (1735-1800): London's Leading Scientific Instrument Maker, Science, technology, and culture, 1700-1945, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., pp. 135–137, ISBN 9780754661368.
  3. Andrews, A. D. (1996), "Cyclopaedia of Telescope Makers Part 5 (Sae-Sim)", Irish Astronomical Journal, 23 (1): 57–117, Bibcode:1996IrAJ...23...57A. The Shuckburgh telescope is described on p. 99.
  4. Hingley, Peter D. (2013). "The Shuckburghs of Shuckburgh, Isaac Fletcher, and the History of the English Mounting". The Antiquarian Astronomer. Society for the History of Astronomy. 7: 17–40. Bibcode:2013AntAs...7...17H. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  5. Anita, McConnell (2013). "Jesse Ramsden: the Craftsman who Believed that Big was Beautiful". The Antiquarian Astronomer. Society for the History of Astronomy. 7: 41–53. Bibcode:2013AntAs...7...41M. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. Astronomical Observations. By J. Pond, Published by the President and Council of the Royal Society. 1811-35. 1835.
  7. "Image of shuckburgh telescope, 1820. by Science & Society Picture Library". www.scienceandsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  8. "The Royal Observatory Greenwich - where east meets west: Telescope: The Shuckburgh Equatorial (1791)". www.royalobservatorygreenwich.org. Retrieved 2018-01-24.
  9. Observations Made at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in the Year ... in Astronomy, Magnetism and Meteorology. H.M. Stationery Office. 1904.
  10. Christie, William Henry Maloney (1896). "1896GOAMM..55....1C Page I". Greenwich Observations in Astronomy. 55: XVII. Bibcode:1896GOAMM..55....1C. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  11. Forbes, Eric Gray; Meadows, Arthur Jack; Howse, Derek (1975). Greenwich Observatory ... the Story of Britain's Oldest Scientific Institution, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and Herstmonceux, 1675-1975. Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN 9780850660951.
  12. Christie, William Henry Maloney (1896). "1896GOAMM..55....1C Page I". Greenwich Observations in Astronomy. 55: XVII. Bibcode:1896GOAMM..55....1C. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  13. McConnell, Anita (2007). Jesse Ramsden (1735-1800): London's Leading Scientific Instrument Maker. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754661368.
  14. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Priestley and Weale. 1831. Shuckburgh telescope eastern equatorial.
  15. "The Royal Observatory Greenwich - where east meets west: Telescope: The Western Equatorial (c.1824)". www.royalobservatorygreenwich.org. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  16. Observatory, Royal Greenwich (1889). Introduction to Greenwich Astronomical Observations. H.M. Stationery Office.
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