Dearborn Observatory
The Dearborn Observatory is an astronomical observatory on the grounds of Northwestern University Evanston , Illinois . The observatory was originally built in 1888. In the summer of 1939 the observatory had to be moved to make way for the establishment of the technical institute.
history
Dearborn Observatory's history coincides with the founding of the Chicago Astronomical Society in 1862. In 1963 the Society learned of the manufacture of an 18.5 "lens, which would make a telescope the largest of its time. The lens was ordered by Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard , head of the University of Mississippi (later President of Columbia University ), who hoped to found an observatory with this lens, commissioned the renowned company Alvan Clark & Sons in Cambridge , Massachusetts to manufacture it , but the Civil War prevented it Extradited to Mississippi , so the lens stayed in Clark's company in Cambridge, where it was presumably for sale.
The lens was originally intended for Harvard University , but was then bought by Thomas Hoyne (1817-1883) of Chicago , a founding member of the Chicago Astronomical Society, for the amount of $ 11,187 . The Chicago Astronomical Society used the lens for the old University of Chicago (the predecessor institute of today's University of Chicago ). A tower was erected on Cottage Grove Avenue. The building was named Dearborn Observatory in memory of Mary Ann Haven Dearborn, the late wife of J. Young Scammon, the primary sponsor of this project. Work began in 1863 and two years later the original Dearborn Observatory was completed. The observatory was operated by the old University of Chicago for many years. Financial problems caused the university to go bankrupt in 1881, forcing the Chicago Astronomical Society to legally enforce its ownership of the instruments and the Dearborn library.
In 1887 the Chicago Astronomical Society signed a contract with Northwestern University to bring the telescope to Evanston. To this end, a new observatory was built in Evanston to install the telescope. Funding was provided by the Chicago Astronomical Society and James B. Hobbs , the administrator of Northwestern. The new building was designed by the architecture firm Cobb and Frost and built of limestone in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The foundation stone was laid on June 21, 1888 and the inauguration was on June 19, 1889. The first director of the observatory was the astronomer George Washington Hough .
The link between the Dearborn Observatory and the Chicago Astronomical Society remained until the Wall Street crash of 1929 . The Society got into financial difficulties and could no longer afford the expensive maintenance of the observatory and the instruments. On April 30, 1930, the Chicago Astronomical Society ceded its claims to the observatory to Northwestern University on the condition that the observatory should remain open to the public free of charge. In 1911, Northwestern decided to modernize the lens mount so that the original mount was removed. In 1929 these parts were given on permanent loan to the new Adler Planetarium , where it is on display. The 18.5 "lens remained in Northwestern. In the summer of 1939, the Dearborn Observatory building had to be relocated 200 meters southeast of its current location to make way for the technical institute. The final extension to the observatory was a 38- foot aluminum dome in 1997. The telescope is still in active use today and the observatory building is also used as a classroom, office and library.
Web links
- Dearborn Observatory Records, Northwestern University Archives, Evanston, Illinois
- History of the Dearborn Observatory (timeline)
- History of the Dearborn Observatory Building
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 42 ° 3 ′ 24 " N , 87 ° 40 ′ 30" W.