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ASTRONOMY ( HERCHEL) The Norman Lockyer Observatory A visit arranged by the Herschel Group on 7 July 2001 A party of William Herschel Society and BRLSI members and friends were joined by members of Bristol Astronomical Society for an excursion to the Norman Lockyer Observatory near Sidmouth, Devon. The Observatory was founded in 1912 by Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer KGB, FRS, for astronomical and meteorological research. The East Devon District Council owns the Observatory and provided additional buildings in 1989 and 1995. The Norman Lockyer Observatory Society manages the Observatory, in pursuit of its objects and as a public amenity, under a long-term lease and management agreement with the Council. We were welcomed by members of the Norman Lockyer Observatory Society and conducted into the Planetarium for a very fine lecture about the life and work of Sir Norman Lockyer by Jack Wickens, the Chairman. Even our coach-driver was engrossed. The Observatory Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer was founder and for more than fifty years editor of the scientific journal Nature. He was Professor of Astronomical Physics and Director of the Solar Physics Observatory at the Royal College of Science, London. He discovered helium in the Sun's atmosphere and contributed much to our knowledge of the Sun and of its effect on the world's weather. He studied the spectra of stars and developed theories of their formation and evolution. He is regarded as the father of astro-archaeology, and investigated ancient sites in Egypt, Stonehenge and Celtic circles to be the first to understand their astronomical relevance. After the lecture we were able to visit some of the telescopes there. Unfortunately there was substantial cloud-cover so we were unable to view the Sun in hydrogen light, nor the Frauenhöfer lines in the Sun's spectrum for which two of the telescopes had been equipped. The McClean Telescope (circa 1894) is an equatorially mounted twin-tube refractor by Sir Howard Grubb of Dublin, having a 10-inch main viewing tube and a 12-inch photographic tube. The telescope has been adapted for work with integrating CCD cameras and an image-enhancing computer. The telescope was refurbished in 1989 and given an electric drive. The Kensington Telescope (circa 1888) is an equatorially mounted twin-tube refractor by Thomas Cooke & Sons of York, comprising a 10-inch main viewing tube and a 9-inch photographic tube with an objective prism. The telescope retains its original mechanical drive and was built to extend Lockyer's spectral studies to the brighter stars. The instrument marks the start of the research in astronomical physics and is, therefore, a telescope of world heritage significance. The Victoria Telescope is a modern 12-inch Orion reflecting telescope, which is used for astrophotography and observing by members of the Society and for education of the public. We returned to the James Lockyer Planetarium where we were given a show and a very fine slide show of deep-sky objects, which had been photographed using the Victoria Telescope. Opened in September 1995, the planetarium dome houses a GOTO planetarium and audio-visual equipment. It can accommodate 50 persons. After the planetarium show we were able to spend a little time in the Exhibition Hall in the Mond building. Here, in addition to demonstrations explaining how telescopes worked and other astronomical phenomena, the history of telling the time, models of spacecraft and lunar modules and items of historical interest such as the Lockyer 6-inch refracting and Browning 9-inch reflecting telescopes (circa 1870). Personally, I was fascinated by a brass plate awarded to Norman Lockyer in 1880 by the `Lynceus Society'. This Italian organisation was founded in 1610 to honour those with sharp vision (with eyes like a lynx) and no doubt had Galileo as one of its first members. I have not been able to discover much more about this Society. The trip was considered to be very successful by many who have expressed a hope that there will be more in the future. There will be one next year. Richard Phillips |
