The Practical Astronomer: Comprising illustrations of light and colours--practical descriptions of all kinds of telescopes--the use of the equatorial-transit--circular, and other astronomical instruments, a particular account of the Earl of Rosse's large telescopes, and other topics connected with astronomyDick, Thomas
Science
The Practical Astronomer: Comprising illustrations of light and colours--practical descriptions of all kinds of telescopes--the use of the equatorial-transit--circular, and other astronomical instruments, a particular account of the Earl of Rosse's large telescopes, and other topics connected with astronomy
Dick, Thomas
Astronomical instruments; Astronomy; Telescopes
The eye-pieces adapted to this telescope have powers which magnify
the object linearly from 100 to 1500 times, which are competent to
fulfil all the purposes of vision when cleared of aberration. When the
telescope is placed in the plane of the meridian and elevated together
with the gallery, into any required altitude, the _meridional sweeps_,
formerly practised by Sir W. Herschel, and continued by Sir John with
great success, in the examination of double stars and nebula, may be
managed with great ease.
Mr. Ramage had a telescope of about the same size, erected in an open
space in Aberdeen, which I had an opportunity of inspecting when I
paid a visit to that gentleman in 1833; but cloudy weather prevented
my obtaining a view of any celestial bodies through it. He showed me
at that time two or three large speculums, from 12 to 18 inches in
diameter, which he had finished some time before, and which appeared
most beautifully polished. He told me, too, that he had ground and
polished them simply with his hand, without the aid of any machinery
or mechanical power--a circumstance which, he said, astonished the
opticians of London, when it was stated, and which they considered as
almost incredible. His experience in casting and polishing metals of
various sizes, during a period of 15 or 16 years, qualified him to
prepare specula of great lustre, and with an unusually high polish. It
has been asserted that a fifty feet telescope by Ramage of 21 inches
aperture was intended to be substituted for the 25 feet instrument
erected at Greenwich, and the speculum it is understood, was prepared,
and ready for use, provided the Navy Board was disposed to defray the
expense of carrying the plan into execution. But, unfortunately, this
ingenious artist was unexpectedly cut off in the midst of his career,
about the year 1835.
SECT. 4.--THE AERIAL REFLECTOR--CONSTRUCTED BY THE AUTHOR.
A particular description of this telescope was given in the ‘Edinburgh
New Philosophical Journal’ for April--July, 1826, conducted by
Professor Jameson, the greater part of which was copied in the ‘London
Encyclopedia,’ ] under the article _Telescope_. From this description I
shall endeavour to condense a brief account of this instrument with a
few additional remarks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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