Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-10
WORK IN AN OBSERVATORY.
A Lecture at the Catholic University
The Astronomical Equipment.

n Lecture at the Catholic University
The Astronomical Equipment.
Rev. George NJ. Searle, C.S.P., director Of
the observatory at the Catholic University, in
delivering the first Of the Friday scientific lee
lures for the season of 1890-9l, devoted an hour
to description Of the practical methods and
apparatus used in astronomical observations.
"People sometimes ask, :" he said, during the
course Of his lecture, show do you astronomers
keep warm on . cold night The answer to
that is very simple. We don't keep warm! or,
IL We do to some extent 1t is only by the help
Of big fur coats and muffiers. II would be ruin
to all chance Of good work il there was a fire
or a radiator or any kind of heat In the dome,
for the hot air would necessarily be flowing
out through tho shutter. making waviness
which the telescope would manifestly mag
nifty, so that 1t would be impossible 10 see
anything distinctly. There should really be
no fire anywhere in the observatory building,
for il there is some Of the hot air, will surely
or less with the seeing Quite often, in
northern ATTITUDES, one has to sit still and get
along as well as possible with the thermometer
not far from Zero There is one way Of avoid
ing this discomfort, and that is by the use of q
telescope of French invention called the .'elbow
equator NJ" The telescope in this case is fixed
parallel to the axis of the earth and runs out OF
the builing through hole in the wall. Out
side it is bent, and by means of mirrors it is
possible to reflect into the tube running to
the observer the image Of any celes-
tial object. Besides the advantage of permit
ting the heating Of the room it has the further
recommendation Of permitting the observer to
sit in o comfortable chair, in natural position,
looking always in the same direction, instead
of hauling oneself mp and down and around the
room by some continuance for the observing
chair, and looking now in one way and now
another. But the instrument itself is less
manageable and convenient than the ordinary
make and, besides, a good deal Of light Is lost
by reflection from the mirrors"
THE NEW OBSERVATORY.
At the conclusion the temporary observatory
built this summer at the university was re-
ferred to. 1t stands exactly on the 77th
meridian from Greenwich. The dome is IS
telescope, made by Clacey of Boston, and
mounted by Saegmuller Of this city. The
machinery Of the dome has been made by
Messrs. Warner d Swasey Of Cleveland, Ohio.
1t is desired to add to this little observatory
wing on each side for q transit instrument and
library, and ultimately to put up larger
and more imposing edifce, with larger
instruments and variety Of them. There is
especially needed meridian circle and suita-
BILE Photographic and spectroscopic apparatus.
Still, great deal Of good work can be done
with a nine-inch telescope, and the speaker ex-
pressed the hope that the observatory of the
place among those recognized by astronomers
as OF the professional and working class, which
do something. not merely for the satisfaction
and instruction OF their owners and visitors,
but also for the real advancement Of astronom-
ical science.