Observatory Saltsjöbaden Astrograph

[Astrofriend]

I'm not sure if this belong to this part of the forum, it's an old instrument.

 

This old astrograph belong to the Observatory of Saltsjöbaden in Sweden not far away from where I live. Ten years ago I did a photo report of it wich I have on Youtube:

http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/saltsjobaden-astrograph/saltsjobaden-astrograph.html

 

This is a Carl Zeiss Jena built 0.4 meters astrograph. Lock at the beautilful instrument and it's building, need some restoration.

 

BR

/Lars

[Putaendo Patrick]

Very nice video, and a lovely observatory. Hope it survives and gets restored!

I came across this article which appeared in a 1930s US magazine (? "Science"):

SCIENTIFIC EVENTS
THE NEW ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORY AT STOCKHOLM

STOCKHOLM is to have a new astronomical observa-
tory, to be located at Saltsjobaden, a garden city about
10 miles outside the capital, according to a report
from the consul general at Stockholm, John Ball
Osborne, made public August  1 by the  U.  S.  Depart-,
ment of Commerce.  The building,will be started as
soon as possible, and it is expected that the observa-
tory will be ready for use in two or three years.
The equipment will include a large refracting tele-
scope for parallax determinations, a large new reflect-
ing telescope, about one meter in diameter and in-
tended for speotrographic observations, astrographs
for photometric examinations, and a new meridian
circle.
The project has been made possible by the Stock-
holm municipal authorities offering to purchase the
present observatory in the city for the sum of 900,000
crowns (about $421,000) and through a donation of
1,000,000 crowns (about $468,000) from "Knut and
Alice Wallenger's Foundation."  This foundation was
founded in December, 1917, for the purpose of pro-
moting science, etc., and large donations have been
made for the establishment of various institutions.
The present observatory in Stockholm, built on a
hill in the northern part of the city, was erected dur-
ing the years 1748 to 1753. However,  it  is  now too
small and cramped  to  serve its purpose, the rapid
growth of the city has made the location unsuitable,
and the equipment is considered too out-of-date to
comply with modern requirements.

There is an interesting article on Swedish observatories, The Old Stockholm Observatory in a Swedish Context and an Argument for the Necessity of an Inventory of the Swedish Astronomical Heritage by Inga Elmqvist Söderlund which can be downloaded at:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de%2Findex.php%2Fmonsites%2Farticle%2Fdownload%2F19932%2F13726&psig=AFQjCNEfiPPFUPP_yY1twYjS2N6dn-57Nw&ust=1461776418134942

This is the part on Saltsjöbaden:

"In 1931 the Stockholm the new observatory in Saltsjöbaden south of Stockholm was inaugurated. The architect was Axel Anderberg. The main building was put on an elevation with surrounding smaller buildings for different instruments as well as a work-shop and living quarters for the staff. The donors (Knut och Alice Wallenbergs stiftelse) behind the new observatory added the condition that it should be called Stockholm observatory, hence there are now three places with the same name, which is a matter of confusion (the old Stockholm observatory, the observatory at Saltsjöbaden, and the present university institution at Alba nova).

The largest instrument was a double refractor, placed on top of the main building in a dome of eleven meters diameter. It was ordered from Grubb, Parsons & Company, from where a reflector with a mirror of one metre diameter was also ordered. The latter was put in a dome of the same size, but in a separate building. An astrograph from Carl Zeiss was also installed. In
1960 the “Schmidt telescope” was added. There had also been a now removed radio telescope. This equipment made the observatory at Saltsjöbaden one of the better equipped at the time being. The work and instrumentation was thoroughly specialised for astrophysics. The research undertaken under the leadership of Bertil Lindblad was mainly concerned with the properties of stars which would elucidate the structure of the Milky Way, and the rotation of the stellar system. The theoretically informed observational astronomy became fashionable.
The international outlook had changed. During the 19th century, Swedish astronomers had collaborated rather with Russian or German colleagues, but now moved
westwards to America.

The institution moved to new premises at “Alba nova” in 2001. The larger fixed instruments remain in their original cupolas, but as to their future usage it is uncertain. The buildings are the property of the National property board, but are let to a school which had the buildings converted for accommodated usage."

 

 

[Putaendo Patrick]

An old photo of the complete Saltzjobaden complex when functioning:

[Astrofriend]

Hi Patrick,

What a lot of information you have found. I have seen some papers inSwedish like the one you found, very interesting to read. The old photo you find have the new Smith-Cassegrain telescope built in the beginning of 1960's. I wrote an article about the telescope with the photos you have seen in the video ten years ago, also interviewed a woman who had worked on the telescope in the 1950s and 1960s. There were many interesting stories to tell about this work at the telescope. The article was written in Swedish.

I see that you live in Chile, do you work at the ESA telescopes there?

BR

Lars

[laudropb]

Very nice video and a very nice article.

[Putaendo Patrick]

Some excellent photos of this telescope, including one of the Transit of Mercury taken using it, by Perfrej at:

 

[Astrofriend]

Hi,

Now at last I have translated my 10 years old article about Saltsöjbaden Observatory and the astrograph. My English is far from perfect but I hope you will understand what I want to tell.

 

Same photos as earlier but now with information from me and a retired astronomer:

 

http://astrofriend.eu/astronomy/observatory-sites/saltsjobaden-astrograph/saltsjobaden-astrograph.html

 

/Lars

 

[Paul73]

Hi Lars

Absolutaly fascinating!! Full of useful notes, such as the "Star Day". It makes perfect sense, once you come to think about it.

Paul

[Astrofriend]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the comment, since then I have done complements with links that give a depper information for them who wants to know more.

 

Lars