University of London Observatory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The University of London Observatory at Mill Hill in London is a teaching observatory which is part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London.

The Observatory was opened on 8 October 1929 by the Astronomer Royal Frank Dyson to house the 24-inch reflector from Dr W.E. Wilson's observatory at Daramona, Ireland which was donated to the University of London after his death.

An 8-inch refractor was installed in 1931 following its donation to the university by H.R. Fry of Barnett the previous year. In July 1938 the Observatory was expanded to accommodate the 24-inch/18-inch twin refractor that had been removed from the Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford in 1934.

In 1951 UCL took over management of the Observatory from the University of London and several expansions over the next ten years added library, lecture, and laboratory space.

The Wilson telescope was retired in 1974 to the Merseyside Museums, and replaced the following year with a new 24-inch Ritchey-Chrétien Cassegrain reflector which was named after the former director of the Observatory, Professor C.W. Allen.

In addition to the these three, the observatory currently also houses four modern telescopes -- a Celestron 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, a Meade 7 inch Maksutov-Cassegrain, and two Meade 10 inch Schmidt-Cassegrains.

The observatory's primary purpose is to provide UCL undergraduates with training in telescope use. First year undergraduates use the Meade and Fry telescopes, whilst third year undergraduates are allowed onto the Allen and Radcliffe. Students are also taught in the methods of astronomical data-handling.

ULO currently conducts research in observing the transits of extrasolar planets.