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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
This web page is being developed to
record aspects of Astronomical History of the Aberdeen Area.
Please email
, or contact
directly, if you have ideas, information
or leads to assist this task.
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1969 Aberdeen & District Astronomical
Society formed
(later renamed as Aberdeen Astronomical Society in 2005)
ADAS / AAS History
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| "Stars
from the NE" - Astronomers from North East Scotland
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| Patrick
Copland (1748 - 1822)
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David
Gill (1843-1914)
David
Gill [b. Aberdeen, Scotland, June 12, 1843, d. London, January
24, 1914] makes a classic photograph of the Great Comet of 1882
that shows so many stars that the idea of stellar cataloging by
photography is born. Gill proceeds to map most of the stars
visible in the Southern Hemisphere using his new method [source
]
Gill was educated at the University of Aberdeen. In 1862 he was
allowed to use the small telescope at King’s College
Observatory after returning to Aberdeen. He also acquired a
12-inch (30.5 cm.) reflector for the College so he could try to
determine stellar parallaxes. [
source
].
He
used the parallax of Mars to determine the distance to the
Sun and also measured distances to the stars. [ source
]
In
1872 he became director of James Ludovic Lindsay's private
observatory near Aberdeen [ source
- Encyclopædia Britannicae ]
Bibliography at phys-astro.sonoma.edu - Obituary - ApJ
40 (1914) 161
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Lord
Lindsay (James Ludovic Lindsay - later 26th Earl of Crawford)
| A talented
amateur astronomer, engineer and photographer, who founded an
observatory on his family’s country estate at Dun Echt, near
Aberdeen, Scotland, which functioned successfully from 1872-92
and survived as a major component of the Royal Observatory
Edinburgh
References :
Br¨uck, M. T. 2004. Lord Lindsay's Expedition to
Mauritius in 1874 : Transits of Venus: New Views of the Solar
System and Galaxy Proceedings IAU Colloquium No. 196,
2004. PDF
document at http://journals.cambridge.org
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James
Clerk Maxwell
| Physicist
and astronomer James Clerk Maxwell gave classes at Marischal
College [ source
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| Robert
Cormack ?
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Cromwell
Tower Observatory (CTO).
The
University of Aberdeen's observatory can be found at the top of
Cromwell Tower in King's College quadrangle. It's called the
Cromwell Tower Observatory, or CTO for
short. CTO
Homepage
The present observatory
was fitted out with its first set of modern refracting
instruments in the 1860's. The instruments have now been
relegated to the University museum and in 2000 refurbishment of
the twin domes began with up-to-date reflecting telescopes.
After years in which the main use of the observatory has been
meteorological, a program that will establish astronomical
observations is being put together.
[ Professor David Thomson and David Gill were involved in
setting up the CTO ]
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/physics/astro/cto/histcrom.htm
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Lord
Lindsay's Observatory at Dun Echt
Lord Lindsay's new Observatory at
Dun Echt, which was 12 miles from Aberdeen. David Gill was
invited to became directory of the observatory in 1872.
Gill was given the task to equip and supervise the construction
of this new Observatory, which Lindsay insisted on being the
very best possible.
Dun Echt Observatory flourished for almost twenty
years but, in 1888, on learning that Scotland’s modest Royal
Observatory in the city of Edinburgh was under threat of closure
Lindsay, now 26th Earl of Crawford, saved the day by
magnanimously donating the entire contents of his observatory
including its by now priceless library to the nation. The whole
was housed in a new Royal Observatory building, completed in
1896, which remains the home of Edinburgh astronomy with
Edinburgh University’s IfA (Institute for Astronomy) and, the
UKATC (United Kingdom Astronomy Technology Centre). [ source
]
Brück, H.A., 1992. Lord Crawford’s
Observatory at Dun Echt 1872-1892. Vistas in Astronomy 35:
81-138.
Lindsay, [Lord] and Gill, David, 1877. Dun Echt Observatory
Publications, Volume 2. Dun Echt Observatory.
Dun
Echt Observatory Publications (Vol
1, 1876 | Vol
2, 1877 | Vol
3, 1885) at http://cdsads.u-strasbg.fr/
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| Castlehill
Observatory,
Aberdeen
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| .
Information
Historic Telescopes at the University of Aberdeen
(Notes by Dr John S. Reid, Jan 2006 ) http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~nph126/article/Histelesc.pdf
Stars
from the NE (an article about NE Astronomers by Dr John S. Reid. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~nph126/article/starsne.pdf
)
Telescopes
Equatorial Telescope by Sisson and Ramsden - a weighty
19th century telescope given as a gift to the Castlehill Observatory
founded by Professor Patrick Copland on behalf of Marischal
College. http://www.abdn.ac.uk/~nph126/selected.php?id=17
Notes
Astronomy in Aberdeen - monography by David Gavine - a
few typewritten pages. I
David Gavine : Astronomy in Scotland 1745-1900 - PhD Thesis, Open University
Biographies in the new Dictionary of National
Biography : Sir David Gill, James Ludovic Lord Lindsay, Patrick Copland,
Andrew Mackay
and turned it into a thesis for which I was awarded a
PhD by the Open University in 1982. This contains quite a lot about
astronomy in the university. It would be useful for you to start with
the biographies of some of the most important characters in the new
Dictionary of National Biography : Sir David Gill, James Ludovic Lord
Lindsay, Patrick Copland and the one I wrote, Andrew Mackay. Then have a
look at some
Contemporary sources : R. Wilson, "An
Historical Account and delineation of Aberdeen" Aberdeen 1822,
and
P. J. Anderson, "Records of the Marischal College and
University", Spalding Club 1884, 3 vols.
G. Forbes, "David Gill, Man and Astronomer", London
1916.
H. A. Bruck, "Lord Crawford's Observatory at Dun Echt
1872-1892" in Vistas in Astronomy 35, 1992.
Dr John S. Reid of the University Physics Dept has
done a lot of research on Professor Copland and on the Castle Hill
Observatory, & has published some things in magazines
Quite a lot has been written on the Gregory family
(James Gregory of Gregorian telescope fame)
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Leonid
Meteors 1998-11-17
| Observations
by David Richards. 05:20-05:50 UT. Drove to dark sight
just beyond Westhill, Aberdeen with full view of sky.
Observed for 30 minutes during which time I saw around 80 Leonid
meteors including a high proportion of fireballs (Mag -5 to
-10). Peak rates where up to 4 or 5 meteors each minute
(equivalent to 200-300 per hour). Meteors where all moving very
fast. I had a fantastic view of them. Some of the fireballs were
exceptionally bright, and momentarily lit up the sky and the
ground, even when looking in completely the opposite direction
The number of dim meteors were relatively few. It was
clear to me that this was something exceptional and was some
11-12 hours ahead of the predicted peak (due at 19:00 UT). Quite
a few of the meteors where clearly a very long way in the
distance, being low down near the horizon and only visible
because of their exceptional fireball brightness. The brighter
meteors had smoke trails, which lasted at least 2-3 minutes.
Several of the meteors appeared to explode with faint projectile
appearing to extend beyond the end of the bright ionization
trail (see picture below). A thin crescent of the Old Moon was
observable at dawn with very distinct earthshine. [source
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Leonid
Fireball, emitting faint projectile
beyond 'explosion' point
Inverted from original sketch
by David Richards (1998) |
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