Haynald Observatory

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The domes of the observatory, around 1930

The Haynald Observatory ( Hungarian Haynald Obszervatórium ) was an observatory in the Hungarian city ​​of Kalocsa , which existed from 1878 to 1950 and was one of the leading solar observation facilities before the First World War . It was named after its founder Lajos Haynald .

history

Lajos Haynald, Archbishop of Kalocsa since 1867 , himself a botanist, was a patron of the sciences. He was also interested in astronomy and had a Merz - refractor purchased with 6 cm aperture. In 1877 he donated it to the local Jesuit college for teaching purposes. Since there were only two observatories in Hungary at that time, Minister Trefort, a friend of Hanyald's, convinced him to set up a full scientific observatory. For example, a tower for the observatory was built on the roof of the Jesuit College, which was completed in 1879. Miklós Konkoly-Thege was also involved in the design and construction . Carl Braun was appointed the first director. He had a Merz refractor with an 18 cm aperture and a Hilger spectroscope purchased for studying the sun. With the latter he observed sunspots , prominences and sun flares . Braun was relieved of his post in 1884 for health reasons. His successor was Julius Fényi , who was employed as an assistant at the observatory from 1880 to 1882. To celebrate his fiftieth jubilee as a priest, Haynald set up a foundation in 1889, the proceeds of which were intended to finance the observatory in the long term.

Fényi had plans to move the observatory out of town, but they never came to fruition. In 1913 Theodor Angehrn  became director of the observatory. He continued Féyni's solar observations for a while, but placed the emphasis on meteorological observations. The Haynalds Foundation had lost most of its assets through the First World War and the aftermath, but the observatory continued to operate with reduced funds. Matyas Tibor came to the observatory in 1946 and was appointed director in 1948. He tried to replace the outdated instruments with a new telescope, which he could no longer do. In 1950 the observatory was closed by the communist government and the Jesuit college was converted into a state school. The library's instruments and holdings were brought to Budapest and distributed among various state institutions.

Equipment and research

The equipment of the observatory consisted of a Merz-Browning refractor with a 7 inch (18 cm) diameter and 222 cm focal length and an equatorial mount with a 6 prism protuberance spectroscope from A. Hilger from London and a 4.5 inch -Merz refractor with 155 cm focal length with a Zöllner photometer from WJ Hauck for observations of the photosphere .

Due to the equipment, the focus of astronomical research was on solar observation. From 1885 to 1917, Julius Fenyi observed prominences and the photosphere of the sun with the 7-inch refractor every day the weather permitted, making the observatory one of the world's leading solar research institutions of the time. Meteorological observations also increasingly played an important role, and the meteorological station received state support from 1904.

literature

  • Augustín Udías: Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories. Astrophysics and Space Science Library 286, Springer, Dordrecht 2003, ISBN 978-90-481-6252-9 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-94-017-0349-9 , pp. 74-77
  • László Tóth, György Mező, Ottó Gerlei: Haynald Observatory Photosphere Observations 1880–1919. In: Journal for the History of Astronomy, Volume 33 (2002), p. 278 ( bibcode : 2002JHA .... 33..278T )
  • Gudrun Wolfschmidt: Nikolaus von Konkoly (1842–1916) as the founder of the Konkoly Observatory Budapest. In: Gudrun Wolfschmidt (ed.): Astronomical patronage. Nuncius Hamburgensis - Contributions to the History of Natural Sciences, Volume 11, Norderstedt 2008, pp. 92–93

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Julius Fényi: Death notification Ludwig von Haynald. In: Astronomische Nachrichten, Volume 128 (1891), p. 15 ( bibcode : 1891AN .... 128 ... 15. )

Coordinates: 46 ° 31 ′ 46.7 ″  N , 18 ° 58 ′ 30 ″  E