Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/774

Rh 716 OBSERVATORY tions have again been published in annual 4 to volumes, the appendices to which contain many important memoirs by the five astronomers attached to the institution. In addition to these and the super intendent (a naval officer) there are three assistants. The instru ments are : a mural circle by Troughton and Sirnnis of 4 inches ; a transit instrument by Ertel of 5 3-inches aperture, these two instruments have been used to observe a catalogue of 11,000 fixed stars; a 9 6-inch equatorial refractor by Merz, used for observing minor planets and comets ; a meridian circle by Pistor and Martins of 8 5 -inches aperture, mounted in 1865, and used for observing standard stars and planets ; a 26-inch equatorial refractor by Clark, mounted in 1873, and used for observations of satellites and difficult double stars, with this instrument Hall discovered the satellites of Mars in 1877. A new observatory is now being built, the former locality being too near the Potomac river. Williamstown (Massachusetts), lat. + 42 42 49&quot;, long. 4 h 52 m 33 s 5 W. Founded in 1836 ; 74-inch refractor by Clark ; meridian circle of 4^-inches aperture by Repsold, mounted in 1882. MEXICO. Chapultepec (about 2 miles south-west of Mexico), national observatory, lat. + 19 25 17&quot; 5, long. 6 h 36 m 38 S 2 W. Erected in 1877-80 ; a 15-inch equatorial refractor by Grubb was procured in 1882 ; there is also an altazimuth by Sirnms, &c. In 1883 the observatory was moved to Tacubaya. SOUTH AMERICA. Santiago (Chili), national observatory, lat. - 33 26 42&quot; 0, long. 4h 42m 42 s- 4 W. In 1849 the U.S. Government sent an astronomical expedition to Chili to observe Venus and Mars, in order to deter mine the solar parallax. When the expedition returned in 1852, the Government of Chili bought all the instruments a 6-inch meridian circle by Pistor and Martins, a 6J-inch refractor by Fitz, &c. Meridian observations of southern stars, observations of Mars in opposition, of the parallax of a Centauri, &c., were carried on by Moesta till 1863 (from 1860 in a new observatory). Since the retirement of Moesta very little has been heard of the institution, although it soon after received a 9i-iuch refractor by Merz and Rep- sold. Two volumes of Observations have been published. Lima (Peru). In 1866 a meridian circle of 7-inches aperture and a lOJ-inch refractor were procured from Eichens, but we are not aware of any astronomical work having been done at Lima. Rio dc Janeiro (Brazil), imperial observatory, lat. -22 54 23&quot; S, long. 2 h 52 m 41 S 4 W. Founded in 1845 ; no work done until 1871. The principal instruments are a meridian circle by Dollond, an altazimuth, a 94-inch refractor by Henry, &c. A Bulletin was com menced in 1881. Cordova (Argentine Republic), national observatory, lat. - 31 25 15&quot; 4, long. 4 h 16 m 45 s ! W. Erected in 1871, under the direction of B. A. Gould, who has here constructed his Urano- metria Argentina, an atlas of all the stars visible to the naked eye from the south pole to +10 decl., with their apparent magnitudes. With a meridian circle by Repsold of 5-inches aperture 105 000 zone observations of stars between - 23 and - 80 decl. have been made, while an 11-inch refractor by Fitz, with photographic object- glass, has been employed for taking photographs of southern star- clusters. The results are being published in 4to volumes. AFRICA. Cape of Good Hope, royal observatory, lat. - 33 56 3&quot; 4, long. lM3 m 55 S OE. Founded in 1820; erected in 1825-29, about 34 miles from Cape Town. Observations were commenced by Fallows in 1829 with a transit instrument by Dollond of 5-inches aperture and a mural circle by Jones. After the death of Fallows (1831), T. Henderson observed from 1832-33, chiefly the moon and Mars for determining their parallaxes, and a Centauri for annual parallax. He was succeeded as &quot;His Majesty s astronomer&quot; by Thomas Maclear, who undertook to verify and extend the arc of meridian measured by Lacaille in 1751-53, which work occupied the observa tory staff for a number of years. The results of the meridian observations were therefore first published by Maclear s successors in the form of three star catalogues for 1840, 1850, and 1860. In 1849 a 7- inch equatorial refractor by Merz was mounted, and in 1855 a new meridian circle, a facsimile of the one at Greenwich, superseded the older instruments. With the equatorial comets, occultations of stars, &c. , were observed. Maclear was succeeded by E. J. Stone (1870 to 1879), who, in addition to bringing out much of his predecessor s work, devoted himself and the staff to observations of stars, embodied in a catalogue of 12,441 stars for the epoch 1880. Under the present astronomer, D. Gill, standard stars between the equator and -23 decl., as also stars suitable for investigations on refraction, are observed, while a 4-inch heliometer by Repsold is privately employed by the astronomer for researches on annual parallax. Besides the observatory of Lacaille in Cape Town, already men tioned (lat. -33 55 16&quot; -1, long. l h 13 41&quot; E.), another temporary observatory, at Feldhausen, lat. - 33 58 56&quot; 6, long, lh 13m 513 E 6 miles from Cape Town, deserves to be mentioned. It was here that Sir John Herschel observed nebulae and double stars from 1834 to 1838 with a reflector of 18^-inches aperture ; the results were pub lished in a large 4to volume in 1847. Durban (Natal). Erected in 1882; 8-inch equatorial refractor by Grubb. Algiers (Algeria), national observatory, lat. + 36 45 2&quot; 7, long. Oh i2m iis-4 ft. Recently founded. St Helena, lat. - 15 55 26&quot; &quot;0, long. O h 22 m 54 s &quot;6 W. Erected in 1829, with a transit instrument and mural circle ; M. Johnson observed the places of 606 southern stars from 1829 to 1833. INDIA. Madras, Government observatory, lat. + 13 4 8&quot; l, long. 5 h 20 m 59 s 4 E. In operation since the beginning of this century. In 1831 a transit instrument and a mural circle, both of 3 ^-inches aperture, by Dollond were mounted, and with these T. G. Taylor observed 11,000 stars, published in a large Catalogue (1845) ; a Sub sidiary Catalogue of 1440 stars appeared in 1854. Taylor s successor, Jacob, chiefly devoted himself to double stars. A meridian circle by Simms was mounted in 1858, and in 1865 an 8-inch equatorial refractor, also by Simms, w r as put up, and the observations have been vigorously continued under the direction of Pogson. Eight volumes in 4to of Observations were published from 1832 to 1854. In a small private observatory at Madras, E. B. Powell observed double stars with a 4-inch refractor by Simms from 1853. Lucknow. An observatory was founded by the king of Oude, and observations were made with a transit instrument and mural circle by Major Wilcox from 1841 till his death in 1848. Both instruments and manuscripts were destroyed during the mutiny in 1857. Trivandrum, lat. + 8 30 32&quot;, long. 5 h 7 m 59 s E. Founded by the rajah of Travancore in 1836, and furnished with a 5-inch re fractor and a transit instrument by Dollond, and two mural circles by Jones and Simms. The building was badly constructed, and the instruments could not be properly placed, so that no astronomical work could be done, but valuable magnetical and meteorological observations were made by J. A. Broun from 1852 to 1863. CHINA. Peking. The Jesuit missionaries under Verbiest erected in 1673 new instruments in the old observatory built in 1279 by Ko Show King. Observations were made and published at least up to 1770. The Russian embassy now maintains a meteorological observatory at Peking. Hong Kong. In 1883 the colonial Government established an observatory, furnished with a 6 -inch refractor, a small transit instrument, and full equipment of magnetical and meteorological instruments. TURKESTAN. Tashkcnd. Founded in 1874 to assist in the geodetic operations of the Russian general staff ; 6-inch refractor and meridian circle by Repsold. AUSTRALIA. Paramatta (New South Wales), lat. - 33 48 50&quot;, long. 1 O h 4 m 6 S&amp;gt; 3 E. Erected by Sir Thomas Macdougall Brisbane, in 1821 ; handed over to the New South Wales Government in 1826 ; furnished with a transit instrument and a mural circle by Troughton, with which observations of southern stars were made by C. Riimker and Dunlop in the years 1822 to 1826, and from which a catalogue of 7385 stars was deduced (1835). The value of this catalogue is, however, lessened by instrumental imperfections. Observations were also made of comets, double stars, and nebula}. From about 1835 no observa tions seem to have been made ; the observatory was abolished in 1855. Sydney (New South Wales), lat. - 3351 41&quot; l, long. 10 h 4 m 50 s 6E. Founded in 1855 ; furnished with the instruments from Para matta, and a very inferior meridian circle by Jones (improved by Simms). In 1861 a 7i-inch refractor by Merz, and in 1874 an ll^-inch equatorial refractor by Schroder were mounted, and have been regularly used for observations of double stars. In 1879 a meridian circle by Simms of 6-inches aperture was acquired. Windsor (New South Wales),lat. - 3336 28&quot; 9,long. 10 h 3 m 21&quot; 7 E. Private observatory of Mr J. Tebbutt, who has devoted himself since 1861 to discoveries and observations of comets, using a 44-inch refractor by Cooke. Melbourne (Victoria), lat. - 37 52 7&quot; 2, long. 9 h 39 m 38 S&amp;gt; 8 E. Founded in 1853 at Williamstown. In 1861 a meridian circle by Simms of 5-inches aperture was mounted, but in 1863 the observa- torywas moved to Melbourne, lat. - 37 49 53&quot;-4,long.9 h 39 m 54 S 8E. The instrumental equipment was further increased by &quot;the great Melbourne telescope,&quot; a Cassegrain reflector, equatorially mounted, of 4-feet aperture and 20-feet focal length, made by Th. Grubb and erected in 1869, since when it has been used for observations of nebulae and lunar photography ; there is also an 8-inch refractor by Cooke, used for observations of comets, &c. The results of the meridian work from 1861 to 1875 are published in five 8vo volumes,