The instrument he presented was of approximately 6 inches aperture and
62⅝ inches focal length, which he had made and tested some three
years previously; on a substantial alt-azimuth mount with slow motions.
He used the Newtonian oblique mirror and the instrument was provided
with both convex and concave eye lenses, with magnifications up to
about 230.
The whole arrangement is shown in Fig. 16 which is for the most part
self explanatory. It is worth noting that the speculum is positioned
in the wooden tube by pressing it forward against three equidistant
studs by three corresponding screws at the rear, that a slider moved
by a traversing screw in a wide groove carries the small mirror and
the ocular, that there is a convenient door for access to the mirror,
and also a suitable finder. The motion in altitude is obtained by a
key winding its cord against gravity. That in azimuth is by a roller
support along a horizontal runway carried by an upright, and is
obtained by the key with a cord pull off in one direction, and in the
other, by springs within the main upright, turning a post of which the
head carries cheek pieces on which rest the trunnions of the tube.
A few months later this telescope was carefully tested, by Bradley and
the Rev. J. Pound, against the Huygens objective of 123 feet focus
possessed by the Royal Society, and with altogether satisfactory
results. Hadley’s reflector would show everything which could be
seen by the long instrument, bearing as much power and with equal
definition, though somewhat lessened light. In particular they saw
all five satellites of Saturn, Cassini’s division, which the inventor
himself had seen the previous year even in the northern edge of the
ring beyond the planet, and the shadow of the ring upon the ball.
The casting of the large speculum was far from perfect, with many spots
that failed to take polish, but the figure must have been rather good.
A spherical mirror of these dimensions would give an aberration blur
something like twenty times the width of Cassini’s division, and the
chance of seeing all five satellites with it would be negligibly small.
Further, Hadley presently disclosed to others not only the method he
used in polishing and parabolizing specula, but his method of testing
for true figure by the aberrations disclosed as he worked the figure
away from the sphere—a scheme frequently used even to this day.
The effect of Hadley’s work was profound. Under his guidance others
began to produce well figured mirrors, in particular Molyneux and
Hawksbee; reflecting telescopes became fairly common; and in the
beginning of the next decade James Short, (1710-1768), possessed of
craftsmanship that approached wizardry, not only fully mastered the
art of figuring the paraboloid, but at once took up the Gregorian
construction with its ellipsoidal small mirror, with much success.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account