Mr A. A. Common’s obs., Ealing, London, W. (1876–1903), 18-in. s.g. refl. erected in 1876, s.g. refl. of 36-in. ap. (mirror by Calver, mounting by the owner), erected in 1879; chiefly used for celestial photography, replaced by a refl. of 5-ft. ap. in 1889.
Colonel Cooper’s obs., Markree Castle, Co. Sligo, Ireland, lat. +54° 10′ 31·8, long. 0 h. 33 m. 48·4 s. W. Founded by the late E. J. Cooper, who in 1834 erected a refr. of 13·3-in. ap. (o.g. by Cauchoix This instrument was from 1848 to 1856 used for determining the approximate places of 60,000 stars near the ecliptic. The obs. was restored in 1874, and the refr. was used for double-star obs. till 1883.
Earl of Crawford’s obs., Dunecht, Aberdeenshire, lat. +57° 9′ 36″, long. 0 h. 9 m. 40 s. W. Founded in 1872; 15-in. refr. by Grubb, 12-in. s.g. refl. by Browning, two 6-in. and several smaller refrs. meridian circle by Simms similar to the one at Cambridge, numerous spectroscopes and minor instruments, also a large library and a collection of physical instruments. Chiefly devoted to spectroscopic and cometary obs. Whole equipment presented to Edinburgh obs. in 1888.
Mr E. Crossley’s obs., Bermerside, Halifax, Yorkshire. Equatorial refr. by Cooke of 9·3 in. ap., erected in 1871, chiefly used for obs. of double stars till 1902.
Rev W. R. Dawes’s obs., first at Ormskirk (1830–1839), lat. +53° 43′ 18″, long. 0 h. 11 m. 36 s. W.; afterwards at Cranbrook, Kent (1844–1850), lat. +51° 6′ 31″, long. 0 h. 2 m. 10·8 s. E.; then at Wateringbury, near Maidstone, lat. +51° 15′ 12″, long. 0 h. 1 m. 39·8 s. E., till 1857; and finally at Hopefield, Haddenham, lat. +51° 45′ 54″, long. 0 h. 3 m. 43·4 s. W., till Mr Dawes’s death in 1868. Possessed at first only small instruments, then successively a 6-in. refr. by Merz, a 712-in. and an 814-in. refr. by Clark, and an 8-in. refr. by Cooke, with all of which a great many measures of double stars were made.
Mr W. De La Rue’s obs., Cranford, Middlesex, lat. +51° 28′ 7·8″, long. 0 h. 1 m. 37·5 s. W. Established in 1857; with 13-in. refl., devoted to solar and lunar photography. The Kew photoheliograph was employed here from 1858 to 1863 to take daily photographs of the sun. The refl. was presented to the Oxford univ. obs. in 1874.
Mr S. Groombridge’s obs., Blackheath, lat. +51° 28′ 2·7″, long. 0 h. 0 m. 0·6 s. E. In 1806 Mr Groombridge obtained a new transit circle of 4-ft. diameter by Troughton, with which he up to 1816 observed stars within 50° of the pole forming a catalogue of 4243 stars.
Sir William and Sir John Herschel’s obs. at Slough near Windsor, lat. +51° 30′ 20″, long. 0 h. 2 m. 24 s. W. William Herschel settled at Datchet in 1782, and at Slough in 1786, and erected several 20-ft. refl. (of 18-in. ap.), and in 1789 his 40-ft. refl. of 4-ft. ap. The latter was comparatively little used (two satellites of Saturn were discovered with it), while the former served to discover about 2500 nebulae and clusters, 800 double stars, and two satellites of Uranus, as also to make the innumerable other obs. which have made the name of Herschel so celebrated. Sir J. Herschel used a 20-ft. refl. at Slough from 1825 to 1833, and from 1834 to 1838 at the Cape of Good Hope, to examine the nebulae and double stars of the whole of the visible heavens, discovering 2100 new nebulae and 5500 new double stars.
Sir William Huggins’s obs., Upper Tulse Hill, London, lat. +51° 26′ 47″, long. 0 h. 0 m. 27·7 s. W. Founded in 1856; furnished with an 8-in. refr. (by Clark and Cooke). In 1870 was erected an equat. mounting with a 15-in. refr. and a Cassegrain refl. of 18-in. ap., both made by Grubb for the Royal Society. With these Sir W. Huggins has made his well-known spectroscopic observations and photographs of stellar spectra. The instruments were transferred to the Cambridge obs. in 1908.
Rev T. J. Hussey’s obs., Hayes, Kent, lat. +51° 22′ 38″, long. 0 h. 0 m. 3·6 s. E. In activity from about 1825 for about twelve years; 612-in. refr. by Fraunhofer, used for making one of the star maps published by the Berlin Academy.
Mr G. Knott’s obs., Cuckfield, Sussex (from 1860 to 1873 at Woodcroft, lat. +51° 0′ 41″, long. 0 h. 0 m. 34 s. W., afterwards at Knowles Lodge, Cuckfield); 7·3-in. refr. by Clark, used for observing double stars and variable stars till 1894.
Mr W. Lassell’s obs., from 1840 to 1861 at Starfield near Liverpool, lat. +53° 25′ 28″, long. 0 h. 11 m. 38·7 s. W.; contained refl. of 9- and 24-in. ap.; employed for obs. of the satellites of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and of nebulae. The 2-ft. refl. was used at Malta in 1852–1853. and a 4-ft. refl. was mounted in 1861, also at Malta, and used till 1864 for obs. of satellites and nebulae. The eighth satellite of Saturn., the two inner satellites of Uranus and the satellite of Neptune were discovered at Starfield by Mr Lassell.
Dr J. Lee’s obs., Hartwell, Bucks, lat. +51° 48′ 36″, long. 0 h. 3 m. 24·3 s. W. In 1836 Dr Lee came into possession of Captain Sryth’s 6-in. refr., and mounted it at Hartwell House where it continued to be occasionally employed for double-star obs. and other work up to about 1864.
Mr F. McClean’s obs., Rusthall House, Tunbridge Wells. Phot. 12-m. refr. and o.g. prism by Grubb used for photos. of star spectra, 1895–1904.
Mr R. S. Newall’s obs., Gateshead, Newcastle-on-Tyne. A 25-in. refr. by Cooke was mounted in 1870 but never used; presented to Cambridge obs. in 1891.
Dr Isaac Roberts’s obs., Crowborough, Sussex, lat. +51° 3′ 7″, long. 0 h. 0 m. 37 s. E. 20-in. s.g. refl. by Grubb (with 7-in. refr.) used for phot: of nebulae and clusters 1890–1904.
Captain W. H. Smyth’s obs., Bedford, lat. +52° 8′ 27·6″, long. 0 h. 1 m. 52·0 s. W. In 1830 Captain (afterwards Admiral) Smyth erected a 6-in. refr. by Tulley, and observed the double stars and nebulae contained in his “Bedford Catalogue” (1844).
Sir James South’s obs., from 1816 to 1824 at Blackman Street, Southwark, long. 0 h. 0 m. 21·8 s. W. Here South took transit Obs. of the sun, and he and J. Herschel measured double stars, in 1821–1823. In 1826 South erected an obs. at Campden Hill, Kensington, lat. +51° 30′ 12″, long. 0 h. 0 m. 46·8 s. W., and procured a 12-in. o.g. from Cauchoix. As Troughton, however, failed to make a satisfactory mounting, the glass was never used till after it had been presented to Dublin obs. in 1862.
Colonel Tomline’s obs. at Orwell Park, Ipswich, lat. +52° 0′ 33″, long. 0 h. 4 m. 55·8 s. E. 10-in. refr. by Merz, used for obs. of comets from 1874 to 1889.
Mr W. E. Wilson’s (d. 1908), obs., Daramona, Streete, Co. Westmeath, Ireland, lat. +53° 41′ 12″, long. 0 h. 29 m. 59 s. W. 2-ft. refl. by Grubb, and other instruments for phot. and solar work.
Lord Wrottesley’s obs., from 1829 to 1841 at Blackheath, lat. +51° 28′ 2″, long. 0 h. 0 m. 2·7 s. E., where a catalogue of the right ascensions of 1318 stars was formed from obs. with a transit instrument by Jones. In 1842 a new obs. was built at Wrottesley Hall, lat. +52° 37′ 2·3″, long. 0 h. 8 m. 53·6 s. W., where the transit and a 734 in.-refr. by Dollond were mounted. Obs. were here made of double stars.
France
Paris, national obs., lat. +48° 50′ 11·2″, long. 0 h. 9 m. 20·9 s. E. Founded in 1667, when the construction of a large and monumental building was commenced by the architect Claude Perrault. J. D. Cassini’s obs. made the institution for some time the most celebrated obs. existing, but later the activity declined, although several eminent men, as Bouvard and Arago, have held the post of director. Since 1854, when Leverrier assumed the directorship, the obs. have been conducted with regularity, and, together with a number of most important theoretical works, published in the Annals (Observations and Memoirs). The principal instruments now in use are: a meridian circle by Secretan and Eichens, with an o.g. of 9·5-in. ap., another by Eichens (given by M. Bischoffsheim) of 7·5-in. ap., a 15-in. refr. by Lerebours and Brunner, a 12-in. refr. by Secretan and Eichens, a refr. of 9·5-in. ap., an equat. coudée by Henry and Gautier of 1012-in. ap. (1883), another by the same of 2312-in. ap., vis. and phot. (1891), phot. refr. of 13 in. by the same. A s.g. refl. of 4-ft. ap. was mounted in 1875, but has never been used.
In addition to this national obs. there were during the latter half of the 18th century several minor obs. in Paris, which only lasted for some years. Among these were the obs. at Collège Mazarin, lat. +48° 51′ 29″, where Lacaille observed from 1746 to 1750, and from 1754 to 1762, and the obs. at the École Militaire, lat. +48° 51′ 5″, built in 1768 and furnished with an 8-ft. mural quadrant by Bird, with which J. L. d’Agelet observed telescopic stars (1782–1785), and which was afterwards (1789–1801), under Lalande’s direction, employed for observing more than 50,000 stars, published in the Histoire Céleste (1801).
Meudon, close to Paris, lat. +48° 48′ 18″, long. 0 h. 8 m. 55·6 s. E. Founded in 1875; devoted to physical astronomy, and especially to celestial photography, under the direction of J. Janssen; 32-in. vis. and 2412-in. phot. refr. by Henry and Gautier, refl. by the same of 39-in. ap. There is a branch obs. on Mont Blanc, where a polar siderostat with 12-in. o.g. and 20-in. mirror is occasionally used for solar and spectroscopic work (15,780 ft. above sea-level).
Montsouris, situated in the Montsouris Park, south of Paris, lat. +48° 49′ 18″, long. 0 h. 9 m. 20·7 s. E. Founded in 1875 for the training of naval officers.
Juvissy (Seine-et-Oise), private obs. of N. C. Flammarion, lat. +48° 41′ 37″, long. 0 h. 9 m. 29·0 s. E. 912-in. refr. used for obs. of planets.
Chevreuse (Seine-et-Oise), private obs. of M. Farman (1903), lat. +48° 42′ 33″, long. 0 h. 8 m. 4·5 s. E.; 8-in. refr. by Mailhat used on double stars.
Besançon, chronometric and meteorol. obs., lat. +47° 14′ 59·0″, long. 0 h. 23 m. 57·1 s. E. Opened 1884; 8-in. refr., 12-in. equat. coudée, 712-in. transit circle, all by Gautier.
Lyons, old obs. in lat. 45° 45′ 46″, long. 0 h. 19 m. 18 s. E., at the Jesuit college. A new obs. was erected in 1877 at St Génis-Laval, at some distance from the city, lat. + 45° 41′ 41·0″, long. 0 h. 19 m. 8·5 s. E. Transit circle by Eichens (6-in. o.g.), 12-in. equat. coudée by Gautier, 12-in. siderostat.
Bordeaux, univ. obs. at Floirac, 4 km. N.W. of the city, lat. +44° 50′ 7·3″, long. 0 h. 2 m. 5·5 s. W. Founded 1882; 7-in. transit circle by Eichens, 14-in. refr. by Merz and Gautier, 13-in. phot. refr. by Henry and Gautier.
Marseilles, lat. 43° 18′ 17·5″, long. 0 h. 21 m. 34·6 s. E. Originally belonging to the Jesuits, taken over by the ministry of the navy in 1749. It was here that J. L. Pons made his numerous discoveries of comets. New buildings erected in 1869; 912-in. Merz. refr., refl. of 32-in. ap. s.g. by Foucault, 712-in. transit circle.
