View source for Space Place at Carter Observatory

{{short description|Historic observatory in Wellington, New Zealand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox Observatory
|name            = Space Place at Carter Observatory
|image           = [[File:Space Place at Carter Observatory.jpg|400px]]
|caption         = Space Place at Carter Observatory
|organization    = Experience Wellington
|code            = 485
|namedafter      = [[Charles Carter (New Zealand politician)|Charles Carter]]
|location        = [[Wellington, New Zealand|Wellington]], New Zealand
|coordinates     = {{coord|-41.28437|174.76697|region:NZ-WGN|display=inline,title}}
|altitude        = 117 m (384 ft)
|established     = {{Start date|1937}} - {{End date|1941}}
|website         = {{url|https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/space-place/}}
|telescope1_name =Thomas Cooke telescope
|telescope1_type =[[T. Cooke & Sons|Cooke]] refractor
|telescope2_name =Ruth Crisp telescope
|telescope2_type =[[Cassegrain reflector]]
|embedded = {{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=NZ Category II|designation1_number=3596|designation1_date=6-Jun-1984}}
}}

'''Space Place at Carter Observatory''' (or simply '''Space Place''') is an observatory in [[Wellington, New Zealand]], located at the top of the [[Wellington Botanic Garden]].

The site was originally home to the Wellington City Observatory (nicknamed "The Tin Shed"), established in 1924. This was demolished and replaced by the Carter Observatory, which officially opened on 20 December 1941. Since renamed the Space Place, it is now managed by [[Wellington Museum|Museums Wellington]], which is part of Experience Wellington, and is a public [[museum]] and planetarium with a focus on space and New Zealand astronomy. The Observatory houses a digital planetarium as well as an historic 9{{fraction|3|4}}-inch Cooke [[Refracting telescope|refractor telescope]], through which evening visitors can observe a variety of [[Solar System]] and [[deep-sky object]]s. It is listed by [[Heritage New Zealand]] as a [[List of historic places in Wellington|Category 2 Historic Place]].

== History ==
[[File:Thomas Cooke Telescope Dome.jpg|thumb|Outside view of the Thomas Cooke telescope dome]]
[[File:Charles Rooking Carter Historic Plaque.jpg|thumb|Historic plaque dedicated to Charles Carter]]

The original name, Carter Observatory, commemorates [[Charles Carter (New Zealand politician)|Charles Carter]], who gifted his estate to what later became the [[Royal Society of New Zealand]] for the purposes of establishing an astronomical observatory in or near Wellington. [[New Zealand Parliament|Parliament]] established the Carter Observatory in 1937; it opened in 1941, following some delays caused by the beginnings of [[World War II]]. It is regarded as the fifth observatory in Wellington,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aneyefordetail.co.nz/AboutMe/Portfolio/HistoryofCarterObservatoryofWellington.aspx |title=History of Carter Observatory of Wellington |last=Coote |first=Briony |year=2010 |website=An Eye for Detail |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref> and was built on the site of the previous Wellington City Observatory nicknamed "The Tin Shed."

Over the following decades, Carter Observatory became a base for astronomical research in New Zealand. Research began with solar investigations, and when new staff joined during the 1970s it expanded to [[variable stars]], [[galaxy|galaxies]], [[comet]]s and [[asteroid]]s. The Observatory ran formal research programmes and assisted [[amateur astronomy|amateur astronomers]] in performing their own research.

The Carter Observatory became New Zealand's National Observatory in 1977. In 1991, the Golden Bay Planetarium was relocated from Civic Square in downtown Wellington and incorporated into the Carter site.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hillac.de/zei_b370.htm |title=Spying on the Stars |last=Wells |first=Peter |date=29 June 2010 |website=HillAc |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref> This merger also resulted in the establishment of a new visitor centre and gift store, which helped to diversify the Observatory’s facilities and improve the visitor experience.

The Observatory’s role eventually shifted from a focus on scientific research to public education about space and astronomy. Parliament officially repealed the Carter Observatory Act in 2010 and transferred the responsibilities of the site from the Crown to the [[Wellington City Council]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/bills-and-laws/bills-proposed-laws/document/00DBHOH_BILL9314_1/carter-observatory-act-repeal-bill |title=Carter Observatory Act Repeal Bill |date=2010 |website=New Zealand Parliament |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref> It is now one of four institutions run by Museums Wellington as part of Experience Wellington.

A digital fulldome [[planetarium]] system was installed during a refurbishment of the facility in 2010. Museums Wellington re-branded the Carter Observatory in 2015 to reflect its role in public education and tourism. It is now officially known as “Space Place at Carter Observatory” or “Space Place.”<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/68014355/wellingtons-carter-observatory-to-rebrand-as-space-place |title=Wellington's Carter Observatory to rebrand as Space Place |last=Chapman |first=Katie |date=25 April 2015 |website=Stuff.co.nz |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref>

== Facilities ==
Space Place houses two [[telescope]]s within its main building, as well as a planetarium. The Thomas Cooke telescope, a 9{{fraction|3|4}}-inch Cooke refractor, serves as the primary telescope for public observing sessions. The Ruth Crisp telescope, a 16-inch Cassegrain reflector, arrived as a donation in 1968. Not far from the main building, Space Place also manages the [[Thomas King Observatory]], previously used by the Wellington Astronomical Society. The historic [[Dominion Observatory, Wellington|Dominion Observatory]] is also located nearby, but this is not operated by Space Place.

=== The Thomas Cooke Telescope ===
[[File:Thomas Cooke Telescope.jpg|thumb|left|The Thomas Cooke telescope]]
The Thomas Cooke telescope is the main telescope in regular use at Space Place. It was manufactured in 1867 in [[York, England]] by [[T. Cooke & Sons]], and originally installed at an observatory near [[Halifax, West Yorkshire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300133162_From_Crossley_to_Carter_The_Life_and_Times_of_an_Historic_Cooke_Refractor |title =From Crossley to Carter: The Life and Times of an Historic Cooke Refractor |last=Orchiston |first=Wayne |date=December 2016 |website=ResearchGate |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref> The astronomers [[Edward Crossley]] and [[Joseph Gledhill]] used the telescope over the course of several decades for their astronomical research.

In 1879, a [[clock drive]] was provided by the [[Grubb Telescope Company]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/account/3267/object/3048 |title=9.75" Cooke Refractor; Thomas Cooke & Sons; 1867; COB072 |website=NZMuseums  |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref> and this still serves as the telescope's mechanical tracking system. The telescope’s original lens was a 9{{fraction|1|3}}-inch [[achromat]], which was replaced with a 9-inch Cooke photovisual objective in 1896. In 1896 or 1905, a 5-inch [[W. Watson and Son|W. Watson & Sons]] guide scope was added alongside the main scope.

After Crossley’s death in 1905, the telescope was purchased by Reverend Dr David Kennedy and shipped to New Zealand, where it was installed at the Meeanee Observatory at the Marist Seminary near [[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]]. Kennedy used the telescope to take photographs of [[Halley’s Comet]] during its 1910 approach.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/7900/halleys-comet |title='Night sky - Earth’s near neighbours' |last1=Field |first1=John |last2=Wassilieff |first2=Maggy |date=12 June 2006 |website=Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref>

The Wellington City Council purchased the telescope for £2000 in 1923, and the telescope was shipped from Napier to Wellington. It was later transferred to the care of the Carter Observatory under the Carter Observatory Act (1938).

At the Carter Observatory site, the Cooke telescope was used for solar astronomy research as well as [[flare star]] and [[double star]] monitoring programs over the following decades. In April 1968, Carter Observatory was one of the observatories involved in recording an [[occultation]] of [[Neptune]] by the [[Moon]]. This was part of an international project in which [[U.S. Naval Observatory]] astronomers used photometric and visual data provided by New Zealand, Australian and Japanese observers to derive an improved value for the diameter of Neptune.

Due to degradation of the lens over its one hundred years of use, the photovisual objective was replaced in December 2001 with a 9{{fraction|3|4}}-inch [[aplanatic lens|aplanatic objective]].

=== The Ruth Crisp Telescope ===
[[File:RuthCrispTelescope2.jpg|thumb|right|The Ruth Crisp telescope]]
The Ruth Crisp telescope, a 16-inch [[Cassegrain reflector]] manufactured by [[Boller and Chivens]], was donated to the Observatory in 1968 by New Zealand writer and philanthropist Ruth Crisp. Once used for research at the Carter Observatory's outstation at [[Black Birch (observatory)|Black Birch]] in the [[South Island]], this telescope was later moved to the main premises in Wellington.

A grant from Pub Charity allowed improvements to the installation in December 2005: the Observatory had the dome motorised, and the telescope’s primary and secondary mirrors were re-aluminised.

=== Planetarium ===
The Golden Bay Planetarium was incorporated into Carter Observatory in 1991, with the Wellington Planetarium Society gifting their Zeiss planetarium to the Observatory Board.

A Sky-Skan digital [[fulldome]] planetarium system was installed during a refurbishment of the site in 2010. The nine-metre planetarium seats 66 people, and is equipped with DigitalSky software running across six [[4K resolution|4K]] projectors.

=== The Thomas King Observatory ===
The nearby Thomas King Observatory is also managed by Space Place, and was last refurbished in May 2001. It housed a 5-inch Grubb telescope (manufactured in 1886), and this was used for both night observations as well as solar viewing through a [[hydrogen-alpha filter]].

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
Image:Space Place Entrance.jpg|The entrance to Space Place
Image:Thomas Cooke Telescope Side View.jpg|Side view of the Thomas Cooke telescope
Image:Thomas King Observatory.jpg|The nearby Thomas King Observatory
Image:Thomas King Observatory & Space Place at Carter Observatory.jpg|The Thomas King Observatory, looking towards Space Place

</gallery>

== See also ==

* [[Thomas King Observatory]]
* [[Dominion Observatory, Wellington]]
* [[Gifford Observatory]], also located in Wellington

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Carter Observatory}}
* [https://www.museumswellington.org.nz/space-place/ Space Place] - official site
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060522210904/http://www.carterobservatory.org/ Carter Observatory's old website]
* [https://experiencewellington.org.nz/ Experience Wellington]

{{Astronomical observatories in New Zealand}}

[[Category:Astronomical observatories in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Wellington City]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Wellington City]]
[[Category:Education in the Wellington Region]]
[[Category:Heritage New Zealand Category 2 historic places in the Wellington Region]]