The Leviathan at Birr Castle

[Nicola Fletcher]

I visited the Leviathan at Birr Castle, Ireland, yesterday. I had been hoping to see it for a long time (funny how we are less likely to visit things on our doorstep!) and it didn’t disappoint. 

The great telescope had been restored in the past number of years and looked like it is in working order. Apparently the mirror has been replaced and the wooden stairways and platform system that can raise the observer to the eyepiece looked in very good repair.

The grounds were stunning with the autumn colours and the I-LOFAR low frequency radio telescope was also visible. The Science Centre had a lot of very interesting displays- I’ve posted a few photos including one of the absolutely massive EPs from the telescope. One of the highlights for me was some of the beautiful sketches that had been made at the telescope (reminded me of the fabulous sketches of Mars by @mikeDnight), as well as a sketching box and an old red lantern that was used telescope-side.

I hope you enjoy the photos - Also I hope it’s ok to post this here. I wasn’t sure if History of Astronomy would be a better place.

[JeremyS]

Looks a fascinating visit 👍🏻

[Sunshine]

It would be awesome to see a telescope like that in person, Leviathan is a fitting name for that monstrosity.

[mikeDnight]

Wonderful photo's Nicola. I really enjoyed looking at those amazing sketches. What an exciting time of discovery it must have been back in the 1880's, playing with such a powerful instrument. Thanks for posting! 😊

[Nicola Fletcher]

17 minutes ago, mikeDnight said:

Wonderful photo's Nicola. I really enjoyed looking at those amazing sketches. What an exciting time of discovery it must have been back in the 1880's, playing with such a powerful instrument. Thanks for posting! 😊

Glad you enjoyed them - it must have been amazing, sitting up there late at night sketching (and wondering how you were going to get down in one piece!). Seeing it up close was a fantastic experience.

[tomato]

Great report and photos. On another thread I nominated this telescope as the worst telescope I could ever own. In no way was it meant to detract from the folk who built and used this monster, it was more a tribute to their commitment, tenacity and dogged determination required to construct, maintain it and actually make observations.

[UKDiver]

I never knew it existed. Wonderful barrell construction.

[Nicola Fletcher]

8 hours ago, tomato said:

Great report and photos. On another thread I nominated this telescope as the worst telescope I could ever own. In no way was it meant to detract from the folk who built and used this monster, it was more a tribute to their commitment, tenacity and dogged determination required to construct, maintain it and actually make observations.

It’s really an incredible construction isn’t it. I’m fascinated that it only moves in altitude - how frustrating if something interesting was just outside its field of view! It’s predecessor was a 35 inch, but I don’t know if it had the same design. I think it’s amazing that the astronomers discovered and recorded so much with it - as you say a testament to their commitment. And an extreme case of aperture fever.

[fifeskies]

Google tells me it did have some azimuth adjustment. 1hr only (15 degrees), primarily restricted by the side walls.

[tomato]

Yes, we know what it is like to keep nudging a manual Dobsonian to keep the object in the FOV, imagine shouting to your assistants to pull all those chains to keep it there.

[Nicola Fletcher]

1 hour ago, fifeskies said:

Google tells me it did have some azimuth adjustment. 1hr only (15 degrees), primarily restricted by the side walls.

That’s interesting- thanks for posting it. I thought its azimuth was fixed but you can see there is room for small azimuth adjustments. 

[fifeskies]

copied text below, can only imagine the effort needed to get that to slew in azimuth with 1845 technology.

Great photo set from Nicola , would love to visit it.

 

The tube is supported at the mirror end by a "universal joint", a hinge with two axes, which allows the tube to be inclined through a large range of altitude and also to be turned through a limited range of azimuth. The azimuth range is limited to about one hour by the supporting walls that flank the tube on its eastern and western sides.

[JOC]

That report says it was restored.  Is it known if anyone now ever looks through it, i.e. uses it?

[Mark at Beaufort]

Wonderful photos Nicola. I have always wanted to visit Birr Castle and this thread has convinced me that I must do it sometime.

[Peter_D]

Thanks for the photos! I'm originally from Ireland but never visited the castle, it's on my (light) bucket list!

Reading up on the Parson's family, interesting for me to see the Earl's youngest son, Charles, was  inventor of the marine steam turbine, a version that was later fitted to HMS Dreadnought. I had seen the surname before but didn't know they were so closely related.

[F15Rules]

Great post, and photos, thanks for sharing..👍

I remember as a boy in the late 60s reading about the "great telescopes of the world" such as the Mount Wilson and Palomar 100" and 200" reflectors and the Yerkes and Lick giant refractors, and the Rosse 72" was often cited as being inspirational in the quest to "go bigger, and deeper".

At a time when a 4" refractor or 8" reflector were highly costly and aspirational instruments for the masses, such a huge scope must have been literally awe inspiring!

We truly don't know how lucky we are today to have access to high quality optics at relatively affordable prices..🔭🔭🔭

Dave

[Nicola Fletcher]

45 minutes ago, JOC said:

That report says it was restored.  Is it known if anyone now ever looks through it, i.e. uses it?

I can’t find anything online with details of viewing events. There is an article in an Irish Astronomical Society’s publication that says it has been restored as a museum and tourist attraction rather than a working observatory: http://www.irishastrosoc.org/orbit/articles/irish.htm. It would be interesting to see what the views are like through it.

[Nicola Fletcher]

37 minutes ago, Peter_D said:

Thanks for the photos! I'm originally from Ireland but never visited the castle, it's on my (light) bucket list!

Reading up on the Parson's family, interesting for me to see the Earl's youngest son, Charles, was  inventor of the marine steam turbine, a version that was later fitted to HMS Dreadnought. I had seen the surname before but didn't know they were so closely related.

One of the turbines was on display and there was great information in the museum about the development of the turbines. His designs were also used in the Titanic, Mauritania and Lusitania according to the information boards. I definitely recommend a visit!

[Saganite]

Excellent report Nicola, thank you.

It has long been on my ' bucket list '......

[Boki Aristarh]

What amazing scope and visit. For me it too far away (living in Serbia) but I really wish to see the monster in person.

And on more thing... I admire those people and dedication to astronomy in very very hard conditions, now days when we have GO-TO scopes, motor drives, perfect optics.... and even then we have some "problems".

😊

[skyhog]

Great report, and pics. Definitely on my bucket list. I've been reading about that scope for years. It's amazing to think that the very big scopes of that era, and Herschels scopes earlier, were all used in the same fixed manner. Hard to imagine planning the observations now, blessed with modern equipment that tracks as it does. 

[JOC]

2 hours ago, Nicola Fletcher said:

it has been restored as a museum and tourist attraction rather than a working observatory

That's rather a shame, as in the information above there is the magic word 'restored' and also 'new mirror' at some point.  IMO there is hardly any point in spending all that cash doing all that to it if no-one ever looks through it.  You'd think that some enterprising person would have run a monthly 'come and look through it session' and maybe they could also take pictures through it and sell them as postcards to raise funds etc.  

[markse68]

Were the mallets for adjusting collimation or for fine tuning the figure I wonder?  😊

 

[tomato]

15 minutes ago, JOC said:

That's rather a shame, as in the information above there is the magic word 'restored' and also 'new mirror' at some point.  IMO there is hardly any point in spending all that cash doing all that to it if no-one ever looks through it.  You'd think that some enterprising person would have run a monthly 'come and look through it session' and maybe they could also take pictures through it and sell them as postcards to raise funds etc.  

The trouble is the scope in it's original configuration would be an absolute pain to use, the speculum alloy mirror would tarnish almost in front of your eyes in the damp atmosphere . Even if it now has a modern aluminised mirror, you have to wait for an object to come into view, and then have a team of assistants on hand to keep it there. And with my ex H&S Managers hat on, I wouldn't like to sign off the risk assessment that puts the general public half way up a rickety wooden staircase which they have to lean over in the dark.

Also it's in the centre of Ireland, what a location for a large, fixed telescope! I bet they have fewer clear nights than I do, all that green pasture needs frequent watering.

[wookie1965]

Wow brilliant thank you for posting the pictures are fantastic.