Royal Observatory, Edinburgh
Encyclopedia
The Royal Observatory, Edinburgh (ROE) is an astronomical
institution located on Blackford Hill
in Edinburgh
, Scotland
. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council
(STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre
(UK ATC) of STFC, the Institute for Astronomy of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh
, and the ROE Visitor Centre. The observatory carries out astronomical research and university teaching; design, project management, and construction of instruments and telescopes for astronomical observatories
; and teacher training in astronomy and outreach to the public. The ROE Library includes the Crawford Collection of books and manuscripts gifted in 1888 by James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
. Before it moved to the present site in 1896, the Royal Observatory was located on Calton Hill, close to the centre of Edinburgh, at what is now known as the City Observatory.
that was installed in 1930. This is part of the visitor centre exhibition, but is not operational any more. A 16/24-inch (0.4/0.6 m) Schmidt camera
was installed in the West Dome in 1951. In 2010 this was removed to the National Museum of Scotland. The only working telescope is a 20-inch (0.5 m) reflector
that was installed in 1967 in a hemispherical dome on top of the teaching laboratories. This telescope is used for undergraduate teaching.
, Copernicus
, Galilei
, Kepler
and Newton
. For the most part, Lord Lindsay
collected this library in the 1870s and 1880s. An early addition was that of over 2500 items from Charles Babbage
's library after his death in 1871.
in 1785 and by Royal Warrant of George III
created the Regius Chair
of Astronomy and appointed Robert Blair
first Regius Professor of Astronomy. After his death in 1828 the position remained vacant until 1834. In 1811 private citizens had founded the Astronomical Institution of Edinburgh
with John Playfair
- professor of natural philosophy - as its president. The Institution acquired grounds on Calton Hill to build an observatory, which was designed by John's nephew William Henry Playfair
; it remains to this day as the Playfair building of the City Observatory.
During his visit of Edinburgh in 1822, George IV
bestowed upon the observatory the title of "Royal Observatory of King George the Fourth". In 1834 - with Government funding - the instrumentation of the observatory was completed. This cleared the way to uniting the observatory with the Regius Chair, and Thomas Henderson
was appointed the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland
and second Regius Professor of Astronomy. The main instruments of the new observatory were a 6.4-inch (16 cm) transit telescope and a 3.5-inch (9 cm) azimuth circle
.
In 1852 Charles Piazzi Smyth
- second Astronomer Royal for Scotland - came up with the idea of building astronomical observatories on high mountains with good weather. He travelled to Tenerife
a few years later for site testing. Nothing came of it until about 100 years later, when this mode of operation became common practice the world over. A time service
was established in 1858. Timings of star transits were used to keep the observatory clock accurate. The clock was wired up to control the drop of a time ball
on Nelson's Monument. This is visible from the port of Leith
, thus providing accurate time for shipping. Another wire led to a time gun
on Edinburgh Castle
.
Chronic underfunding by the Government eventually lead to Smyth's resignation in 1888. The Government then intended to close the Royal Observatory and to abolish the post of Astronomer Royal for Scotland.
learned of the plans to close the Royal Observatory, he offered to give the instruments of his own Dunecht
observatory and his unique astronomical library to the nation on condition that the Government build and maintain a new Royal Observatory to replace the one on Calton Hill. Ralph Copeland
was appointed third Astronomer Royal for Scotland and oversaw the move of the two observatories from Dunecht and Calton Hill to Blackford Hill
.
The instruments to move into the domes were a 15-inch (38 cm) refractor
(East Dome) and a 24-inch (0.6 m) reflector (West Dome). An 8.5-inch (22 cm) transit circle
was housed in a separate building further west. The time service continued to control the time ball on Calton Hill and the time gun on Edinburgh Castle by telegraph wire. It also controlled a time gun in Dundee and a clock at Rosyth dockyard
. In the 1910s and 1920s research at the ROE led to more accurate pendulum clock
s, which remained in service until they had to give way to quartz clock
s in the 1960s.
During the first half of the 20th century the ROE pursued the new fields of photographic and photoelectric recording of stellar positions, brightnesses and spectra
. From the 1950s onwards the ROE has concentrated even more on instrumentation and automation. In 1965 the ROE moved from the responsibility of the Scottish Office
into the new Science Research Council (SRC), which in 1981 became the Science and Engineering Research Council
(SERC).
The ROE operated the UK Schmidt Telescope
(UKST) since it was opened in 1973. This took photographic plates in blue light of the entire southern sky. Together with red-light plates taken by the European Southern Observatory
(ESO) they form the ESO/SERC Southern Sky Survey, which in turn extends the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey
beyond its southern limit. In 1988 the telescope was handed over to the Anglo-Australian Observatory
, which until 2010 operated it for Australia
and the United Kingdom
(UK); in July 2010, the Australian Astronomical Observatory was formed, to operate the telescope as part of a facility entirely under Australian control. The photographic laboratory and plate library for the UKST remained at the ROE in Edinburgh.
Since 1967 the ROE had been operating a machine (GALAXY - General Automatic Luminosity And X-Y) to digitise photographic plates. After the opening of the UKST, this was upgraded to become the COSMOS (COordinates, Sizes, Magnitudes, Orientations and Shapes) machine in 1975. It operated until 1993 and was replaced by a new SuperCOSMOS machine. When in 1980 the Starlink Project
was formed to support astronomical image processing in the UK, the ROE became one of the six original nodes of the Starlink network.
Over the years 1973-1979 the ROE built the 3.8-metre UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on Mauna Kea
in Hawaii
. This is an early example of the use of thin mirrors in large telescopes. The ROE operated UKIRT in cooperation with the University of Hawaii
and built instruments for it, including the first ever common-user infrared camera. In 1987 the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
(JCMT) - also on Mauna Kea - was handed over to the ROE after the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
had competed its construction. This is a 15-metre, millimetre- and sub-millimetre-wavelength telescope of the UK, the Netherlands
and Canada
.
- ninth Astronomer Royal for Scotland - left in 1990, astronomy in the UK underwent a period of re-organisation and uncertainty. Andrew Lawrence became Regius Professor of Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh, whereas the title of Astronomer Royal for Scotland
went to John Brown
of the University of Glasgow
. For a while Paul Murdin was acting director of the ROE. In 1993 the observatories of the UK - the Royal Greenwich Observatory
(RGO), the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
, and the Joint Astronomy Centre
(UKIRT and JCMT) - came under the single directorship of Alec Boksenberg
, until then director of the RGO.
In 1994 the SERC was split up and the ROE became part of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
(PPARC). In 1995 the merged observatories were dissolved into four independent entities. Having lost the UKST in 1988 - the ROE now also lost the UKIRT and the JCMT. It retained its role of building instruments for telescopes and satellites. It also became the UK project office for the construction of the Gemini Observatory
, a pair of 8.1-metre telescopes run by no less than seven countries.
A review of the Royal Observatories in 1996 concluded that the running of observatories and building of instruments should be put out to competitive tender, raising the fear of privatisation or closure. In 1997 this came to a halt and instead it was decided to reduce the RGO and the ROE into a smaller single astronomy technology centre. In 1998 the RGO was closed, while the ROE escaped lightly: The Plate Library and SuperCOSMOS machine were handed over to the University of Edinburgh, while the technology and project management expertise of the ROE - and to a lesser degree of the RGO - was retained by the UK Astronomy Technology Centre
, which superseded the ROE as Edinburgh establishment of PPARC.
Following the work on Gemini, the UK ATC was put in charge of managing the construction of the 4-metre f/1 VISTA
(Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy). In the tradition of the UKST this is a survey telescope with a wide field of view. It works in the infrared and uses an array of CCD
detectors as camera. The telescope is located at the Paranal Observatory
of the European Southern Observatory
(ESO). In 1962 five European countries had founded the ESO; the UK joined in 2002 as the tenth member country. VISTA was handed over to ESO in 2008 as part of the UK's joining fee.
and Regius Professor
of Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh
:
Directors of ROE or UK ATC after amalgamation and dissolution of "The Royal Observatories":
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
institution located on Blackford Hill
Blackford Hill
Blackford Hill is a hill in the south of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh, in the area of Blackford, near Morningside, The Grange, and the Braid Hills....
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The site is owned by the Science and Technology Facilities Council
Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council is a UK government body that carries out civil research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astronomy .-History:It was formed in April 2007 as a merger of the Particle...
(STFC). The ROE comprises the UK Astronomy Technology Centre
UK Astronomy Technology Centre
The UK Astronomy Technology Centre is based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council....
(UK ATC) of STFC, the Institute for Astronomy of the School of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, and the ROE Visitor Centre. The observatory carries out astronomical research and university teaching; design, project management, and construction of instruments and telescopes for astronomical observatories
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
; and teacher training in astronomy and outreach to the public. The ROE Library includes the Crawford Collection of books and manuscripts gifted in 1888 by James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres was a British astronomer, politician, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878. He was a prominent Freemason.-Family:The Earl was the...
. Before it moved to the present site in 1896, the Royal Observatory was located on Calton Hill, close to the centre of Edinburgh, at what is now known as the City Observatory.
Telescopes
The original 1894 building includes two cylindrical copper domes on top of the East and West Towers. These were refurbished in 2010. The East Dome still shelters a 36-inch (0.9 m) Cassegrain reflectorCassegrain reflector
The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas....
that was installed in 1930. This is part of the visitor centre exhibition, but is not operational any more. A 16/24-inch (0.4/0.6 m) Schmidt camera
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. Other similar designs are the Wright Camera and Lurie-Houghton telescope....
was installed in the West Dome in 1951. In 2010 this was removed to the National Museum of Scotland. The only working telescope is a 20-inch (0.5 m) reflector
Reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...
that was installed in 1967 in a hemispherical dome on top of the teaching laboratories. This telescope is used for undergraduate teaching.
Crawford Collection
The Crawford Collection has first editions of most books relevant to the history of astronomy. This includes many works by the likes of BraheTycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe , born Tyge Ottesen Brahe, was a Danish nobleman known for his accurate and comprehensive astronomical and planetary observations...
, Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
, Galilei
Galileo Galilei
Galileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
, Kepler
Johannes Kepler
Johannes Kepler was a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion, codified by later astronomers, based on his works Astronomia nova, Harmonices Mundi, and Epitome of Copernican...
and Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
. For the most part, Lord Lindsay
James Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres was a British astronomer, politician, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878. He was a prominent Freemason.-Family:The Earl was the...
collected this library in the 1870s and 1880s. An early addition was that of over 2500 items from Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...
's library after his death in 1871.
Calton Hill
The University of EdinburghUniversity of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
in 1785 and by Royal Warrant of George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
created the Regius Chair
Regius Professor
Regius Professorships are "royal" professorships at the ancient universities of the United Kingdom and Ireland - namely Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dublin. Each of the chairs was created by a monarch, and each appointment, save those at Dublin, is approved by the...
of Astronomy and appointed Robert Blair
Robert Blair (astronomer)
Robert Blair was a Scottish astronomer.Robert Blair was the first Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh . He invented the aplanatic lens and also coined this term. This was a significant step in reducing the aberration in optical systems...
first Regius Professor of Astronomy. After his death in 1828 the position remained vacant until 1834. In 1811 private citizens had founded the Astronomical Institution of Edinburgh
Edinburgh Astronomical Institution
The Edinburgh Astronomical Institution was founded in 1811 and wound up in 1847. It was instrumental in the foundation of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh in 1822...
with John Playfair
John Playfair
John Playfair FRSE, FRS was a Scottish scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is perhaps best known for his book Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth , which summarized the work of James Hutton...
- professor of natural philosophy - as its president. The Institution acquired grounds on Calton Hill to build an observatory, which was designed by John's nephew William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair
William Henry Playfair FRSE was one of the greatest Scottish architects of the 19th century, designer of many of Edinburgh's neo-classical landmarks in the New Town....
; it remains to this day as the Playfair building of the City Observatory.
During his visit of Edinburgh in 1822, George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
bestowed upon the observatory the title of "Royal Observatory of King George the Fourth". In 1834 - with Government funding - the instrumentation of the observatory was completed. This cleared the way to uniting the observatory with the Regius Chair, and Thomas Henderson
Thomas James Henderson
Thomas James Alan Henderson was a Scottish astronomer noted for being the first person to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, the major component of the nearest stellar system to Earth, and for being the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland.-Early life:Born in Dundee, Scotland, he was educated...
was appointed the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland
Astronomer Royal for Scotland
Astronomer Royal for Scotland was the title of the director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh until 1995. It has since been an honorary title.The following have served as Astronomers Royal for Scotland:* 1834–1844 Thomas Henderson...
and second Regius Professor of Astronomy. The main instruments of the new observatory were a 6.4-inch (16 cm) transit telescope and a 3.5-inch (9 cm) azimuth circle
Glossary of nautical terms
This is a glossary of nautical terms; some remain current, many date from the 17th-19th century. See also Wiktionary's nautical terms, :Category:Nautical terms, and Nautical metaphors in English.- A :...
.
In 1852 Charles Piazzi Smyth
Charles Piazzi Smyth
Charles Piazzi Smyth , was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888, well-known for many innovations in astronomy and his pyramidological and metrological studies of the Great Pyramid of Giza....
- second Astronomer Royal for Scotland - came up with the idea of building astronomical observatories on high mountains with good weather. He travelled to Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
a few years later for site testing. Nothing came of it until about 100 years later, when this mode of operation became common practice the world over. A time service
Time signal
A time signal is a visible, audible, mechanical, or electronic signal used as a reference to determine the time of day.-Audible and visible time signals:...
was established in 1858. Timings of star transits were used to keep the observatory clock accurate. The clock was wired up to control the drop of a time ball
Time ball
A time ball is a large painted wooden or metal ball that drops at a predetermined time, principally to enable sailors to check their marine chronometers from their boats offshore...
on Nelson's Monument. This is visible from the port of Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
, thus providing accurate time for shipping. Another wire led to a time gun
Noon Gun
The Noon Gun has been an historic time signal in Cape Town, South Africa since 1806. The gun is situated on Signal Hill, close to the centre of the city.- History :...
on Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...
.
Chronic underfunding by the Government eventually lead to Smyth's resignation in 1888. The Government then intended to close the Royal Observatory and to abolish the post of Astronomer Royal for Scotland.
| Asteroid Asteroid Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones... s discovered: 7 |
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Blackford Hill
When the Earl of CrawfordJames Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford
James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres was a British astronomer, politician, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was elected president of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1878. He was a prominent Freemason.-Family:The Earl was the...
learned of the plans to close the Royal Observatory, he offered to give the instruments of his own Dunecht
Dunecht
Dunecht is a slightly linear village on the A944 road in north-east Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It is not to be confused with Echt.Dunecht is located 12 miles west of the city of Aberdeen and is situated by the confluence of the Kinnernie and Bervie burns.Formerly known as Waterton, it was renamed...
observatory and his unique astronomical library to the nation on condition that the Government build and maintain a new Royal Observatory to replace the one on Calton Hill. Ralph Copeland
Ralph Copeland
Ralph Copeland was an English astronomer and the third Astronomer Royal for Scotland.Copeland was born at Moorside Farm, near Woodplumpton in Lancashire, England and attended Kirkham Grammar School. He spent five years in Australia where he discovered his interest in astronomy...
was appointed third Astronomer Royal for Scotland and oversaw the move of the two observatories from Dunecht and Calton Hill to Blackford Hill
Blackford Hill
Blackford Hill is a hill in the south of the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh, in the area of Blackford, near Morningside, The Grange, and the Braid Hills....
.
The instruments to move into the domes were a 15-inch (38 cm) refractor
Refracting telescope
A refracting or refractor telescope is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image . The refracting telescope design was originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long focus camera lenses...
(East Dome) and a 24-inch (0.6 m) reflector (West Dome). An 8.5-inch (22 cm) transit circle
Meridian circle
The meridian circle, transit circle, or transit telescope is an instrument for observing the time of stars passing the meridian, at the same time measuring its angular distance from the zenith...
was housed in a separate building further west. The time service continued to control the time ball on Calton Hill and the time gun on Edinburgh Castle by telegraph wire. It also controlled a time gun in Dundee and a clock at Rosyth dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
. In the 1910s and 1920s research at the ROE led to more accurate pendulum clock
Pendulum clock
A pendulum clock is a clock that uses a pendulum, a swinging weight, as its timekeeping element. The advantage of a pendulum for timekeeping is that it is a resonant device; it swings back and forth in a precise time interval dependent on its length, and resists swinging at other rates...
s, which remained in service until they had to give way to quartz clock
Quartz clock
A quartz clock is a clock that uses an electronic oscillator that is regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time. This crystal oscillator creates a signal with very precise frequency, so that quartz clocks are at least an order of magnitude more accurate than good mechanical clocks...
s in the 1960s.
During the first half of the 20th century the ROE pursued the new fields of photographic and photoelectric recording of stellar positions, brightnesses and spectra
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
. From the 1950s onwards the ROE has concentrated even more on instrumentation and automation. In 1965 the ROE moved from the responsibility of the Scottish Office
Scottish Office
The Scottish Office was a department of the United Kingdom Government from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland...
into the new Science Research Council (SRC), which in 1981 became the Science and Engineering Research Council
Science and Engineering Research Council
The Science and Engineering Research Council used to be the UK agency in charge of publicly funded scientific and engineering research activities including astronomy, biotechnology and biological sciences, space research and particle physics...
(SERC).
Outstations and national facilities
From 1961 to 1973 the ROE's Earlyburn Outstation some 20 miles (30 km) south of Edinburgh was used for optical tracking of artificial satellites. From 1967 to 1976 the observatory operated a 16/24-inch (0.4/0.6 m) Schmidt camera - matching the one in Edinburgh - at its Monte Porzio Catone observing station near Rome. A division of labour developed: By 1976 the ROE as an SRC/SERC establishment spent most of its resources on running and supporting national facilities, while astronomical research was left to the university's Department of Astronomy.The ROE operated the UK Schmidt Telescope
UK Schmidt Telescope
The 1.2 metre UK Schmidt Telescope is operated by the Australian Astronomical Observatory , and located adjacent to the 3.9 metre Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory, Australia...
(UKST) since it was opened in 1973. This took photographic plates in blue light of the entire southern sky. Together with red-light plates taken by the European Southern Observatory
European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...
(ESO) they form the ESO/SERC Southern Sky Survey, which in turn extends the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey
National Geographic Society - Palomar Observatory Sky Survey
The National Geographic Society – Palomar Observatory Sky Survey is a major photographic survey of the night sky that was completed at Palomar Observatory in 1958.-Observations:...
beyond its southern limit. In 1988 the telescope was handed over to the Anglo-Australian Observatory
Anglo-Australian Observatory
The Australian Astronomical Observatory , formerly the Anglo-Australian Observatory, is an optical/near-infrared astronomy observatory with its headquarters in suburban Sydney, Australia...
, which until 2010 operated it for Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(UK); in July 2010, the Australian Astronomical Observatory was formed, to operate the telescope as part of a facility entirely under Australian control. The photographic laboratory and plate library for the UKST remained at the ROE in Edinburgh.
Since 1967 the ROE had been operating a machine (GALAXY - General Automatic Luminosity And X-Y) to digitise photographic plates. After the opening of the UKST, this was upgraded to become the COSMOS (COordinates, Sizes, Magnitudes, Orientations and Shapes) machine in 1975. It operated until 1993 and was replaced by a new SuperCOSMOS machine. When in 1980 the Starlink Project
Starlink Project
The Starlink Project, referred to by users as Starlink and by developers as simply The Project, was a UK astronomical computing project which supplied general-purpose data reduction software. Until the late nineties, it also supplied computing hardware and system administration personnel to UK...
was formed to support astronomical image processing in the UK, the ROE became one of the six original nodes of the Starlink network.
Over the years 1973-1979 the ROE built the 3.8-metre UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on Mauna Kea
Mauna Kea Observatory
The Observatories at Mauna Kea, , are an independent collection of astronomical research facilities located on the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai'i, USA. The facilities are located in a special land use zone known as the "Astronomy Precinct," which is located in the Mauna Kea...
in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. This is an early example of the use of thin mirrors in large telescopes. The ROE operated UKIRT in cooperation with the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
and built instruments for it, including the first ever common-user infrared camera. In 1987 the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
James Clerk Maxwell Telescope
The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is a submillimetre-wavelength telescope at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii. Its primary mirror is 15 metres across: it is the largest astronomical telescope that operates in submillimetre wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum...
(JCMT) - also on Mauna Kea - was handed over to the ROE after the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council . It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom...
had competed its construction. This is a 15-metre, millimetre- and sub-millimetre-wavelength telescope of the UK, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Reviews and international involvement
After Malcolm LongairMalcolm Longair
-External links:...
- ninth Astronomer Royal for Scotland - left in 1990, astronomy in the UK underwent a period of re-organisation and uncertainty. Andrew Lawrence became Regius Professor of Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh, whereas the title of Astronomer Royal for Scotland
Astronomer Royal for Scotland
Astronomer Royal for Scotland was the title of the director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh until 1995. It has since been an honorary title.The following have served as Astronomers Royal for Scotland:* 1834–1844 Thomas Henderson...
went to John Brown
John Campbell Brown
John Campbell Brown FRSE is an astronomer, Regius Professor at University of Glasgow, Astronomer Royal for Scotland, and is an honorary professor at both University of Edinburgh and University of Aberdeen....
of the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
. For a while Paul Murdin was acting director of the ROE. In 1993 the observatories of the UK - the Royal Greenwich Observatory
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich , in London, England played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and is best known as the location of the prime meridian...
(RGO), the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes
The Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes or ING operates the William Herschel Telescope, Isaac Newton Telescope and Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope optical telescopes for the Science and Technology Facilities Council , the NWO and the IAC...
, and the Joint Astronomy Centre
Joint Astronomy Centre
The Joint Astronomy Centre operates British, Canadian and Dutch telescopes at Mauna Kea Observatory, and provides support for other telescopes and public outreach activities...
(UKIRT and JCMT) - came under the single directorship of Alec Boksenberg
Alexander Boksenberg
Alexander Boksenberg FRS CBE is a British scientist. He won the 1999 Hughes Medal of the Royal Society "for his landmark discoveries concerning the nature of active galactic nuclei, the physics of the intergalactic medium and of the interstellar gas in primordial galaxies...
, until then director of the RGO.
In 1994 the SERC was split up and the ROE became part of the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
The Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council was one of a number of Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It directed, coordinated and funded research in particle physics and astronomy for the people of the UK...
(PPARC). In 1995 the merged observatories were dissolved into four independent entities. Having lost the UKST in 1988 - the ROE now also lost the UKIRT and the JCMT. It retained its role of building instruments for telescopes and satellites. It also became the UK project office for the construction of the Gemini Observatory
Gemini Observatory
The Gemini Observatory is an astronomical observatory consisting of two telescopes at sites in Hawai‘i and Chile. Together, the twin Gemini telescopes provide almost complete coverage of both the northern and southern skies...
, a pair of 8.1-metre telescopes run by no less than seven countries.
A review of the Royal Observatories in 1996 concluded that the running of observatories and building of instruments should be put out to competitive tender, raising the fear of privatisation or closure. In 1997 this came to a halt and instead it was decided to reduce the RGO and the ROE into a smaller single astronomy technology centre. In 1998 the RGO was closed, while the ROE escaped lightly: The Plate Library and SuperCOSMOS machine were handed over to the University of Edinburgh, while the technology and project management expertise of the ROE - and to a lesser degree of the RGO - was retained by the UK Astronomy Technology Centre
UK Astronomy Technology Centre
The UK Astronomy Technology Centre is based at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Science and Technology Facilities Council....
, which superseded the ROE as Edinburgh establishment of PPARC.
Following the work on Gemini, the UK ATC was put in charge of managing the construction of the 4-metre f/1 VISTA
VISTA (telescope)
The VISTA is a reflecting telescope with a 4.1 metre mirror, located at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. It is operated by the European Southern Observatory and saw first light in December 2009...
(Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy). In the tradition of the UKST this is a survey telescope with a wide field of view. It works in the infrared and uses an array of CCD
Charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device is a device for the movement of electrical charge, usually from within the device to an area where the charge can be manipulated, for example conversion into a digital value. This is achieved by "shifting" the signals between stages within the device one at a time...
detectors as camera. The telescope is located at the Paranal Observatory
Paranal Observatory
Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Paranal at 2,635 m altitude and operated by the European Southern Observatory. The Very Large Telescope is the largest telescope on Paranal, actually composed of four separate 8.2 m telescopes...
of the European Southern Observatory
European Southern Observatory
The European Southern Observatory is an intergovernmental research organisation for astronomy, supported by fifteen countries...
(ESO). In 1962 five European countries had founded the ESO; the UK joined in 2002 as the tenth member country. VISTA was handed over to ESO in 2008 as part of the UK's joining fee.
Directors
Also Astronomer Royal for ScotlandAstronomer Royal for Scotland
Astronomer Royal for Scotland was the title of the director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh until 1995. It has since been an honorary title.The following have served as Astronomers Royal for Scotland:* 1834–1844 Thomas Henderson...
and Regius Professor
Regius Professor
Regius Professorships are "royal" professorships at the ancient universities of the United Kingdom and Ireland - namely Oxford, Cambridge, St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Dublin. Each of the chairs was created by a monarch, and each appointment, save those at Dublin, is approved by the...
of Astronomy in the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
:
- 1834-1844, Thomas HendersonThomas James HendersonThomas James Alan Henderson was a Scottish astronomer noted for being the first person to measure the distance to Alpha Centauri, the major component of the nearest stellar system to Earth, and for being the first Astronomer Royal for Scotland.-Early life:Born in Dundee, Scotland, he was educated...
- 1846-1888, Charles Piazzi SmythCharles Piazzi SmythCharles Piazzi Smyth , was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888, well-known for many innovations in astronomy and his pyramidological and metrological studies of the Great Pyramid of Giza....
- 1889-1905, Ralph CopelandRalph CopelandRalph Copeland was an English astronomer and the third Astronomer Royal for Scotland.Copeland was born at Moorside Farm, near Woodplumpton in Lancashire, England and attended Kirkham Grammar School. He spent five years in Australia where he discovered his interest in astronomy...
- 1905-1910, Frank DysonFrank Watson DysonSir Frank Watson Dyson, KBE, FRS was an English astronomer and Astronomer Royal who is remembered today largely for introducing time signals from Greenwich, England, and for the role he played in testing Einstein's theory of general relativity.- Biography :Dyson was born in Measham, near...
- 1910-1937, Ralph SampsonRalph Allen SampsonRalph Allen Sampson FRS was a British astronomer.He was born in Skull, Co Cork to James Sampson, a Cornish-born metallurgical chemist. The family moved to Liverpool and Sampson attended the Liverpool Institute and then graduated from St. John's College, Cambridge in 1888...
- 1938-1955, W.M.H. GreavesWilliam Michael Herbert GreavesWilliam Michael Herbert Greaves FRS was a British astronomer.He was born in Barbados, West Indies to Dr. E. C. Greaves, a medical doctor trained at Edinburgh University. William Greaves was educated first at Lodge School and Codrington College in Barbados then travelled to England to study at St...
- 1957-1975, Hermann Brück
- 1975-1980, Vincent Reddish
- 1980-1990, Malcolm LongairMalcolm Longair-External links:...
Directors of ROE or UK ATC after amalgamation and dissolution of "The Royal Observatories":
- 1995-1997, Stuart Pitt
- 1998-2004, Adrian Russell
- 2005-present, Ian Robson
Further reading
- Gavine, D (1981). Astronomy in Scotland 1745-1900. PhD thesis. Open University.
- Gavine, D (1981-1985). "The Calton Hill observatories". ASE Journal, 4-11. Astronomical Society of Edinburgh. .