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Argentine National Observatory: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 31°25′17″S 64°11′56″W / 31.4214°S 64.1989°W / -31.4214; -64.1989
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==Bosque Alegre Astrophysical Station==
==Bosque Alegre Astrophysical Station==
The Bosque Alegre Astrophysics Station is located about 30 miles southwest of Cordoba at an altitude of 1200 meters (3,937-ft) in the Sierra Chicas.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Perrine |first1=Charles D. |title=Letter to George E. Hale, May 31, 1915 |url=https://digital.archives.caltech.edu/islandora/object/hale:68316#page/28/mode/1up |website=George E. Hale Papers |publisher=CalTech Archives |access-date=13 November 2021 |archive-url=https://digital.archives.caltech.edu}}</ref> The observatory was integral to the development of Argentine and Latin American Astrophysics. For example, the Atlas of Austral Galaxies by J. L. Sersic.
The Bosque Alegre Astrophysics Station is located about 30 miles southwest of Cordoba at an altitude of 1200 meters (3,937-ft) in the Sierras Chicas.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Perrine |first1=Charles D. |title=Letter to George E. Hale, May 31, 1915 |url=https://digital.archives.caltech.edu/islandora/object/hale:68316#page/28/mode/1up |website=George E. Hale Papers |publisher=CalTech Archives |access-date=13 November 2021 |archive-url=https://digital.archives.caltech.edu}}</ref> The observatory was integral to the development of Argentine and Latin American Astrophysics. For example, the Atlas of Austral Galaxies by J. L. Sersic.


The 61-inch (1.54-meter) Great Reflector was the concept of the director of the Argentine National Observatory, [[Charles Dillon Perrine]], who assumed the directorship in 1909. He had experience with the 36-in Crossley Reflector at Lick Observatory from 1900-09. He proposed to the National Government the construction of this telescope, equal to the largest in the world at that time. It would remain the largest in South America until 1981 when a larger one was built in Brazil. The National Government granted the Observatory the necessary funds in 1912.
The 61-inch (1.54-meter) Great Reflector was the concept of the director of the Argentine National Observatory, [[Charles Dillon Perrine]], who assumed the directorship in 1909. He had experience with the 36-in Crossley Reflector at Lick Observatory from 1900-09. He proposed to the National Government the construction of this telescope, equal to the largest in the world at that time. It would remain the largest in South America until 1981 when a larger one was built in Brazil. The National Government granted the Observatory the necessary funds in 1912.
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The mount and dome were contracted to [[Warner and Swasey]] of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The glass block for the mirror was ordered from [[Saint-Gobain]] of France, completed in Dec. 1912, and delivered to Argentina in early 1913.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Warner & Swasey |title=The Sixty-Inch Reflector for the Argentine National Observatory |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |date=1923 |volume=35 |issue=203 |pages=50-54 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40030444 |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Paolantonio |first1=Santiago (2017) |title=History of a Mirror |url=https://historiadelaastronomia.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/historia-de-un-espejo/ |website=Historia de la Astronomia |publisher=WordPress.com |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>
The mount and dome were contracted to [[Warner and Swasey]] of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The glass block for the mirror was ordered from [[Saint-Gobain]] of France, completed in Dec. 1912, and delivered to Argentina in early 1913.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Warner & Swasey |title=The Sixty-Inch Reflector for the Argentine National Observatory |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |date=1923 |volume=35 |issue=203 |pages=50-54 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i40030444 |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Paolantonio |first1=Santiago (2017) |title=History of a Mirror |url=https://historiadelaastronomia.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/historia-de-un-espejo/ |website=Historia de la Astronomia |publisher=WordPress.com |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>


Due to the high price asked by by [[George W. Ritchey]] (USA) to figure (carve and polish) the glass into a mirror , Perrine decided to have Observatory staff do the work at the observatory itself in a purpose-built optics laboratory. This experience put Argentina at the forefront in this field.
Due to the high price asked by by [[George W. Ritchey]] (USA) to figure (shape and polish) the glass into a mirror, Perrine decided to have the highly-skilled staff technician, James Mulvey, do the work at the observatory itself in a purpose-built optics laboratory. This experience put Argentina at the forefront in this field.


The death in 1915 of the Observatory's optical technician, James Mulvey, the [[First World War]], and the rebuilding of the Observatory in the city of Córdoba significantly delayed the project.
The death in 1915 of Mr. Mulvey, the [[First World War]], the rebuilding of the Observatory in the city of Córdoba, political upheaval, and national economic limitations significantly delayed the project.


In 1936, Perrine retired, having selected the site, constructed the station buildings, and assembled the telescope mount, but the mirror was not yet complete. F. Aguilar and JJ Nissen, director of the National Observatory, intervened and the mirror was sent for completion to the Fecker optician in the US. At that time, the telescope was the third largest in the world. The first Argentine astrophysicist [[Enrique Gaviola]] went to the US in 1939 to receive the mirror. Sadly, Fecker, even with it's well-known expertise, could not complete the mirror. Gaviola took control of the configuration (shaping and polishing) and completed it.
In 1936, Perrine retired, having selected the site, constructed the station buildings, and assembled the telescope mount, but the mirror was not yet complete. F. Aguilar and JJ Nissen, director of the National Observatory, intervened and the mirror was sent for completion to the Fecker optician in the US. At that time, the telescope was the third largest in the world. The first Argentine astrophysicist [[Enrique Gaviola]] went to the US in 1939 to receive the mirror. Sadly, Fecker, even with it's well-known expertise, could not complete the mirror. Gaviola took control of the configuration (shaping and polishing) and completed it.

Revision as of 01:36, 13 November 2021

Argentine National Observatory
Alternative namesAstronomical Observatory of Cordoba Edit this at Wikidata
Organization
Observatory code 822 Edit this on Wikidata
LocationCórdoba Province, Argentina
Coordinates31°25′17″S 64°11′56″W / 31.4214°S 64.1989°W / -31.4214; -64.1989
Established1871 Edit this on Wikidata
Websitewww.oac.unc.edu.ar Edit this at Wikidata
Telescopes
  • Bosque Alegre ground station Edit this on Wikidata
Argentine National Observatory is located in Argentina
Argentine National Observatory
Location of Argentine National Observatory
  Related media on Commons
Observatorio Astronómico of Córdoba

The Argentine National Observatory, today the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba, was founded on 24 October 1871, by Argentine president Domingo F. Sarmiento and the North American astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould.

History

Its creation was the beginning of astronomical studies in Argentina. When President Domingo F. Sarmiento was representing his country in the United States, he had the opportunity to meet pioneering astronomer Benjamin Apthorp Gould, who was very interested in traveling to Argentina in order to study the stellar south hemisphere.

Once Sarmiento was installed as President of Argentina, he Gould to travel to Argentina, in 1869, to provide his full support to organize an observatory. Gould arrived in Buenos Aires in 1870. The same night of the inauguration of the Astronomical Observatory of Córdoba, Gould began with the naked eye, and later with the aid of small binoculars, a map of the southern sky, recording more than 7000 stars, which was published under the name of Uranometría Argentina. He remained as director of the observatory until 1885, when he returned to the United States.

The first stellar photographs in the world – hundreds of sheets of open star clusters – were taken at this observatory. This helped to determine the exact position of each star. Gould published the results in the Catálogo de zonas estelares (1884), the first systematic and large-scale astronomy book, including more than 70,000 stars of the southern hemisphere, and the Argentinian General Catalog, which contains about 35,000 stars. The Catálogo de zonas estelares was republished in 1897 under the title Fotografías Cordobesas.

Bosque Alegre Astrophysical Station

The Bosque Alegre Astrophysics Station is located about 30 miles southwest of Cordoba at an altitude of 1200 meters (3,937-ft) in the Sierras Chicas.[1] The observatory was integral to the development of Argentine and Latin American Astrophysics. For example, the Atlas of Austral Galaxies by J. L. Sersic.

The 61-inch (1.54-meter) Great Reflector was the concept of the director of the Argentine National Observatory, Charles Dillon Perrine, who assumed the directorship in 1909. He had experience with the 36-in Crossley Reflector at Lick Observatory from 1900-09. He proposed to the National Government the construction of this telescope, equal to the largest in the world at that time. It would remain the largest in South America until 1981 when a larger one was built in Brazil. The National Government granted the Observatory the necessary funds in 1912.

The mount and dome were contracted to Warner and Swasey of Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The glass block for the mirror was ordered from Saint-Gobain of France, completed in Dec. 1912, and delivered to Argentina in early 1913.[2][3]

Due to the high price asked by by George W. Ritchey (USA) to figure (shape and polish) the glass into a mirror, Perrine decided to have the highly-skilled staff technician, James Mulvey, do the work at the observatory itself in a purpose-built optics laboratory. This experience put Argentina at the forefront in this field.

The death in 1915 of Mr. Mulvey, the First World War, the rebuilding of the Observatory in the city of Córdoba, political upheaval, and national economic limitations significantly delayed the project.

In 1936, Perrine retired, having selected the site, constructed the station buildings, and assembled the telescope mount, but the mirror was not yet complete. F. Aguilar and JJ Nissen, director of the National Observatory, intervened and the mirror was sent for completion to the Fecker optician in the US. At that time, the telescope was the third largest in the world. The first Argentine astrophysicist Enrique Gaviola went to the US in 1939 to receive the mirror. Sadly, Fecker, even with it's well-known expertise, could not complete the mirror. Gaviola took control of the configuration (shaping and polishing) and completed it.

Finally, on July 5, 1942, after 33 years of work, the Astrophysical Station was inaugurated. “This Astrophysical Station was born in the optimistic and courageous mind of Charles Dillon Perrine, director of the Cordoba Observatory from 1909 to 1936. Perrine dedicated the best energies of many years of his life to the realization in the matter of his daring dream. He had triumphs and defeats, successes and failures. " Words by Enrique Gaviola, inauguration speech of the Bosque Alegre Astrophysical Station, July 5, 1942.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ Perrine, Charles D. "Letter to George E. Hale, May 31, 1915". George E. Hale Papers. CalTech Archives. Retrieved 13 November 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help)
  2. ^ Warner & Swasey (1923). "The Sixty-Inch Reflector for the Argentine National Observatory". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 35 (203): 50–54. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  3. ^ Paolantonio, Santiago (2017). "History of a Mirror". Historia de la Astronomia. WordPress.com. Retrieved 11 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Paolantonio, Santiago. "The Bosque Alegre Astrophysical Station is back in operation". Historia de la Astronomia. WordPress.com. Retrieved 11 November 2021.