Hamburg Observatory

Last updated

Hamburg-Bergedorf Observatory
Bdstern 1.jpg
Organization University of Hamburg
Observatory code 029   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Location Bergedorf, Hamburg, Germany
Coordinates 53°28′48″N10°14′28″E / 53.480°N 10.241°E / 53.480; 10.241 Coordinates: 53°28′48″N10°14′28″E / 53.480°N 10.241°E / 53.480; 10.241
Established1909 (1802)
Website www.hs.uni-hamburg.de
Relief Map of Germany.svg
Red pog.svg
Location of Hamburg-Bergedorf Observatory
  Commons-logo.svg Related media on Commons

Hamburg Observatory (German : Hamburger Sternwarte) is an astronomical observatory located in the Bergedorf borough of the city of Hamburg in northern Germany. It is owned and operated by the University of Hamburg, Germany since 1968, although it was founded in 1825 by the City of Hamburg and moved to its present location in 1912. It has operated telescopes at Bergedorf, at two previous locations in Hamburg, at other observatories around the world, and it has also supported space missions.

Contents

The largest near-Earth object was discovered at this Observatory by German astronomer Walter Baade at the Bergedorf Observatory in Hamburg on 23 October 1924. [1] [2] That asteroid, 1036 Ganymed is about 20 miles (35 km) in diameter. [3]

The Hamburg 1-meter reflector telescope (first light 1911) was one of the biggest telescopes in Europe at that time, and by some measures the fourth largest in the World. [4] [5] The Observatory also has an old style Great Refractor (a Großen Refraktor), a long telescope with a lens (60 cm/~23.6 in aperture) with a tube focal length of 9 meters (~10 yards), and there is also a smaller one from the 19th century that has survived. [4] Another historical item of significance is the first and original Schmidt telescope, a type noted for its wide-field views. [4]

Among its achievements, the director of the Observatory won the 1854 Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for an 1852 star catalog. [6]

History

The 1-meter Reflector, the biggest telescope by aperture in Germany for many years, and one of the top largest in 1911 1mTeleskop.jpg
The 1-meter Reflector, the biggest telescope by aperture in Germany for many years, and one of the top largest in 1911

Stintfang (1802–1811)

The precursor of Hamburg Observatory was a quasi-private observatory by Johann Georg Repsold built in 1802, originally located at the Stintfang in Hamburg. [7] It was built in the city with permission of the Congress. [6] It started in 1803, and had a meridian circle built by Repsold . [8] [6] However, it was destroyed in 1811 by a war. Repsold, Reinke, and J.C. von Hess submitted a proposal to Hamburg for city observatory that same year, to rebuild.

Millerntor (1825–1906)

Funding for a new Observatory was approved in August 1821, on the condition J. G. Repsold built the instruments. The new observatory was completed in 1825 next to the Millerntor. However, in 1830 Repsold died while fighting a fire (he was also a Hamburg fireman) and the City of Hamburg voted to take over and continue running the observatory in 1833. [9] First director became Charles Rümker who had accompanied Thomas Brisbane to build the first Australian observatory at Parramatta. [10] Christian August Friedrich Peters became assistant director in 1834. In 1856 Rümker's son George became director of the observatory.

In 1854 Carl Rumaker won the Gold Medal from the Royal Society for year, for his 1852 Star catalog, which had the positions of 12000 stars. [6]

In 1876 funding was received for 'The Equatorial', a 27 cm (11 in) refractor; it was later moved to Bergedorf.

After the move to Bergedorf, the site was partially demolished and rebuilt into the Museum of Hamburg History (Hamburgmuseum / Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte).

Bergedorf (1912–present)

The 1 m-Spiegel, a 1-meter reflecting telescope at Bergedorf Observatory Bdstern 5.jpg
The 1 m-Spiegel, a 1-meter reflecting telescope at Bergedorf Observatory

Because of the increasing light pollution, in 1906 it was decided to move the observatory to Bergedorf. In 1909 the first instruments were moved there, and in 1912 the new observatory was officially dedicated.

One of the overall design elements of Bergeforf, is that each instrument was placed in its own building, rather than integrated in one large building. [11]

Two new instruments for the Bergedorf location were the 60 cm (~23.6 inch) aperture Great Refractor by Reposold, and Meridian Circle. [12] One unique feature of Hamburg Great Refractor is an Iris control that allows the aperture to be adjusted from 5 to 60 cm. [13] Two lens were produced by Steinheil, one for photography and another for visual observing, both delivered in the early 1910s. [13]

The European Southern Observatory (ESO) was founded at Bergedorf in 1962. That organization put a lot telescopes in the southern hemisphere, which is not as viewable from northern part of Earth.

The Hamburg 1 m Reflector (39″/100 cm objective aperture) was the world's fourth largest reflector when it began operations in 1911. [14] Catalogs include the AGK3-Sternkatalog (completed over 1956-1964)

In 1968 the observatory became part of Hamburg University. [15] In 1979 a small museum to Bernard Schmidt was inaugurated. [8] In 2012, 100 years at Bergedorf was celebrated. [16]

In 2019, the Great Refractor building was re-open in June after it was modernized. [17]

1-meter reflector

The 1 meter reflector at Hamburg Observatory was the largest by aperture in Germany, and one of the largest in Europe, and was also among the largest telescopes of any type in the World at that time.

Largest telescopes (all types) in 1911)
Name/Observatory Aperture
cm (in)
Type LocationExtant or Active
Harvard 60-inch Reflector [18] 1.524 m (60″) reflector – glass Harvard College Observatory, USA1905–1931
Hale 60-Inch Telescope 1.524 m (60″) reflector – glass Mt. Wilson Observatory; California 1908
Great Melbourne Telescope [19] 122 cm(48″) reflector – metal Melbourne Observatory, Australia1878
Yerkes Observatory [20] 102 cm (40″)achromat Williams Bay, Wisconsin, USA 1897-2018
Hamburg 1 Meter Reflector100 cm (39.37″) reflector – glass Hamburg, Germany1911
James Lick telescope, Lick Observatory 91 cm (36″)achromat Mount Hamilton, California, USA 1888
Crossley Reflector [21] (Lick Observatory)91.4 cm(36″) reflector – glass Mount Hamilton, California, USA 1896
Grande Lunette, Paris Observatory 83 cm + 62 cm
(32.67" + 24.40")
achromat x2 Meudon, France 1891
Potsdam Großer Refraktor
Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam
80 cm + 50 cm
(31.5"+29.5")
achromat x2 Potsdam, Deutsches Kaiserreich 1899
Focault 80 cm, Marseille Observatory [22] 80 cm (31.5")reflector-glass Marseille, France 1862–1965 [23]
Grand Lunette Biscoffscheim, Nice Observatory 77 cm (30.3″)achromatNice, France [24] [25] 1886

Note that the prevailing glass mirror technology at this time was silver-coated glass, not vapour-deposited aluminium which did not debut until several decades later. Speculum metal mirror reflected something like 2/3 of the light, and the lens telescopes were popular for their virtues but had enormous and expensive domes due to their long focal length (also they had issues with chromatic aberration that were solved in a different way by reflecting designs).

Telescopes

Saturn through the Lippert telescope in 2005 (CC 2.0 License) Saturn.jpg
Saturn through the Lippert telescope in 2005 (CC 2.0 License)
This building housed the Hamburg Meridian Circle, which was used to calculate the local time Meridian circle building at Hamburg Observatory 03.jpg
This building housed the Hamburg Meridian Circle, which was used to calculate the local time
Telescopes [26]

Offsite telescopes

Location of telescopes at Bergedorf Bdstern 0.jpg
Location of telescopes at Bergedorf

People of Hamburg Observatory

Directors of the Observatory:

Bernhard Schmidt, inventor of the Schmidt camera worked at the Observatory including making telescopes, instruments, and observations starting in 1916. Walter Baade successfully petitioned the Hamburg senate to have Schmidt camera installed in 1937, and it was completed in 1954 after work restarted on in 1951 after being interrupted by WWII. Walter Baade also succeeded in having a Schmidt camera built at Palomar Observatory in California. [32]

In 1928, Kasimir Graff made many observations at Hamburg until he left for the Vienna Observatory.

In 2009, South African pop star, singer and composer Ike Moriz filmed a music video called 'Starry Night' [33] both inside and outside the observatory buildings. [34] It features the Equatorial refractor telescope as well as the library and garden areas. [35] He also sang at the 100th anniversary exhibition 'Vision Sternwarte'. [36]

Association

Due to the difficult economic situation of the observatory, the "Förderverein Hamburger Sternwarte e.V." was founded in 1998. [37] The goals of the association are primarily to preserve the buildings and astronomical equipment of the observatory in accordance with the preservation order. In addition, it does public relations work and aims to open up parts of the site to the public in the future. The application for a World Heritage Site, which has been running since 2012, is an important focus of their work.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yerkes Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Wisconsin

Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States. The observatory was operated by the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from its founding in 1897 to 2020. Ownership was transferred to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation (YFF) in May 2020, which began restoration and renovation of the historic building and grounds. Re-opening for public tours and programming began May 27, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refracting telescope</span> Type of optical telescope

A refracting telescope is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image. The refracting telescope design was originally used in spyglasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long-focus camera lenses. Although large refracting telescopes were very popular in the second half of the 19th century, for most research purposes, the refracting telescope has been superseded by the reflecting telescope, which allows larger apertures. A refractor's magnification is calculated by dividing the focal length of the objective lens by that of the eyepiece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Observatory</span> Foremost astronomical observatory of France

The Paris Observatory, a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Bank of the Seine in central Paris, but most of the staff work on a satellite campus in Meudon, a suburb southwest of Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockholm Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory

The Stockholm Observatory is an astronomical observatory and institution in Stockholm, Sweden, founded in the 18th century and today part of Stockholm University. In 1931, the new Stockholm Observatory, nicknamed "Saltis", was inaugurated on the Karlsbaderberget at Saltsjöbaden, near Stockholm, and operated until 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernhard Schmidt</span> Baltic German astronomer

Bernhard Woldemar Schmidt was an Estonian optician. In 1930 he invented the Schmidt telescope which corrected for the optical errors of spherical aberration, coma, and astigmatism, making possible for the first time the construction of very large, wide-angled reflective cameras of short exposure time for astronomical research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johann Georg Repsold</span> German astronomer

Johann Georg Repsold was a German astronomer and fireman. He began to make astronomic instruments mainly for his own use and his third son Adolf Repsold went on to establish a well-known astronomical instrument making company A & G. Repsold which later became A. Repsold and Sohne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope</span> Type of catadioptric telescope

The Schmidt–Cassegrain is a catadioptric telescope that combines a Cassegrain reflector's optical path with a Schmidt corrector plate to make a compact astronomical instrument that uses simple spherical surfaces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker</span> German astronomer (1788–1862)

Carl Ludwig Christian Rümker was a German astronomer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berlin Observatory</span>

The Berlin Observatory is a German astronomical institution with a series of observatories and related organizations in and around the city of Berlin in Germany, starting from the 18th century. It has its origins in 1700 when Gottfried Leibniz initiated the "Brandenburg Society of Science″ which would later (1744) become the Prussian Academy of Sciences. The Society had no observatory but nevertheless an astronomer, Gottfried Kirch, who observed from a private observatory in Berlin. A first small observatory was furnished in 1711, financing itself by calendrical computations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Observatory of Belgium</span> Observatory

The Royal Observatory of Belgium, has been situated in the Uccle municipality of Brussels (Belgium) since 1890. It was first established in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode in 1826 by William I under the impulse of Adolphe Quetelet. It was home to a 100 cm (39 in) diameter aperture Zeiss reflector in the first half of the 20th century, one of the largest telescopes in the world at the time. It owns a variety of other astronomical instruments, such as astrographs, as well as a range of seismograph equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Schorr</span> German astronomer

Richard Reinhard Emil Schorr, was a German astronomer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archenhold Observatory</span> Observatory

The Archenhold Observatory was named in honour of Friedrich Simon Archenhold, is an observatory in Berlin-Treptow. It houses the Großer Refraktor, which is the longest pointable telescope in the world. It is also called the Himmelskanone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam</span>

Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) is a German research institute. It is the successor of the Berlin Observatory founded in 1700 and of the Astrophysical Observatory Potsdam (AOP) founded in 1874. The latter was the world's first observatory to emphasize explicitly the research area of astrophysics. The AIP was founded in 1992, in a re-structuring following the German reunification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirasteilas Observatory</span> Observatory

The Mirasteilas Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Falera in the canton of Grisons in Switzerland. With its 90-centimeter telescope it is the largest publicly accessible observatory in Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kuffner Observatory</span> Observatory in Vienna

The Kuffner observatory is one of two telescope-equipped public astronomical observatories situated in Austria's capital, Vienna. It is situated in the West of the city's Ottakring district, on the slope of the Gallitzinberg at 302 m altitude. Originally a private research institution, it was converted into an educational astronomy facility after World War II as buildings and city lights had encroached to a degree that severely hampered scientific nightsky observations. Today the main tasks of the observatory consist in public education on astronomy, operating and preserving the historical equipment, and minor projects in scientific astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great refractor</span>

Great refractor refers to a large telescope with a lens, usually the largest refractor at an observatory with an equatorial mount. The preeminence and success of this style in observational astronomy defines an era in modern telescopy in the 19th and early 20th century. Great refractors were large refracting telescopes using achromatic lenses. They were often the largest in the world, or largest in a region. Despite typical designs having smaller apertures than reflectors, great refractors offered a number of advantages and were popular for astronomy. It was also popular to exhibit large refractors at international exhibits, and examples of this include the Trophy Telescope at the 1851 Great Exhibition, and the Yerkes Great Refractor at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Astronomical Observatory (Chile)</span> Observatory

The National Astronomical Observatory of Chile is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Department of Astronomy of the University of Chile (UCh). It is located on Cerro Calán, a hill in the commune of Las Condes. The commune is an eastern suburb of Santiago located in Santiago Province of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. OAN was founded in 1852 and became a part of UCh in 1927. The facility on Cerro Calán was completed in 1962.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altona Observatory</span> Observatory

The Altona Observatory was an astronomical observatory situated in the Palmaille, in Altona, Hamburg. The observatory was founded by Heinrich Christian Schumacher in 1823 and continued to operate until 1871, 21 years after his death. It closed due to funding being cut off following the cession of the 'Elbe Duchies' of Schleswig, Holstein, and Saxe-Lauenburg by Denmark to Austria and Prussia following the Second Schleswig War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potsdam Great Refractor</span>

Potsdam Great Refractor is an historic astronomical telescope in an observatory in Potsdam, Germany.

References

  1. "1036 Ganymed (1924 TD)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  2. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1036) Ganymed". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names . Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p.  89. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1037. ISBN   978-3-540-00238-3.
  3. Browne, Malcolm W. (25 April 1996). "Mathematicians Say Asteroid May Hit Earth in a Million Years". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Telescopes and photographic plates". Hamburg University – Hamburg Observatory. 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  5. Journal for the History of Astronomy. Science History Publications. 2005.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Anderson, S. R.; Engels, D. (April 2004). "A short history of Hamburg Observatory". Journal of the British Astronomical Association. 114: 78–87. Bibcode:2004JBAA..114...78A. ISSN   0007-0297.
  7. J.G. Repsold, the founder of Hamburg observatory (in German)
  8. 1 2 3 "A short history of the Hamburg Observatory—Principal Instruments of Hamburg Observatory". Uni-Hamburg. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  9. "Hamburger Sternwarte : History". Archived from the original on 27 June 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  10. Charles Rümker, Erster Sternwartendirektor in Hamburg (in German)
  11. Lockyer, Sir Norman (1911). Nature. Macmillan Journals Limited.
  12. "A SHORT HISTORY OF HAMBURG OBSERVATORY". www.hs.uni-hamburg.de. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. 1 2 "The Hamburg Observatory" (PDF).
  14. "Hamburger Sternwarte - Buildings & Telescopes: 1m Reflector". Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  15. "A Short History of Hamburg Observatory". Archived from the original on 25 June 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  16. 100 100 Years of the Observatory Bergedorf
  17. Limited, Alamy. "Stock Photo - Hamburg, Germany. 19th June, 2019. The Great Refractor building was reopened on 19.06.2019 after a phase of modernisation. The observatory has one of the largest telescopes in". Alamy. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  18. "New York Times "NEW HARVARD TELESCOPE.; Sixty-Inch Reflector, Biggest in the World, Being Set Up. "April 6, 1905, Thursday", Page 9". The New York Times. 6 April 1905. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  19. "Largest optical telescopes of the world". stjarnhimlen.se. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  20. "The 40-inch". Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  21. "Mt. Hamilton Telescopes: CrossleyTelescope". www.ucolick.org. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  22. Tobin, William (1987). "Foucault's invention of the silvered-glass reflecting telescope and the history of his 80-cm reflector at the observatoire de Marseille". Vistas in Astronomy. 30 (2): 153–184. Bibcode:1987VA.....30..153T. doi:10.1016/0083-6656(87)90015-8. ISSN   0083-6656.
  23. Gascoigne, S. C. B. (June 1996). "The Great Melbourne Telescope and other 19th-century Reflectors". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society. 37: 101. Bibcode:1996QJRAS..37..101G. ISSN   0035-8738.
  24. "1914Obs....37..245H Page 248" . Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  25. Roger Hutchins (2008). British University Observatories, 1772-1939. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 252. ISBN   978-0-7546-3250-4.
  26. "Hamburger Sternwarte - Buildings and Telescopes". Archived from the original on 25 January 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2009.
  27. Stephanion Observatory, homepage
  28. "Hamburg Observatory". www.physik.uni-hamburg.de. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  29. "Rümker, Christian Carl Ludwig (1788–1862)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  30. Encyclopædia Britannica, Otto Heckmann
  31. "Nachrufe : Alfred Weigert". Mitteilungen der Astronomischen Gesellschaft Hamburg. 76: 11. 1993. Bibcode:1993MitAG..76...11.. ISSN   0374-1958.
  32. Donald E. Osterbrock; Walter Baade (2001). Walter Baade: A Life in Astrophysics. Princeton University Press. ISBN   0-691-04936-X.
  33. "Starry Night". YouTube. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021.
  34. "Ike Moriz". Discogs. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  35. "Bergedorfs Stern in Südafrika". www.bergedorfer-zeitung.de (in German). 16 August 2020. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  36. Hamburg, Hamburger Abendblatt- (13 August 2011). "In die Sterne schauen, Gedichten lauschen und Musik genießen". www.abendblatt.de (in German). Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  37. "Förderverein Hamburger Sternwarte".

Bibliography