The Toulouse Observatory (french: Observatoire de Toulouse) is located in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and was established in 1733. It was founded by ''l'Académie des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de Toulouse'' ("Academy of Science, Inscriptions and the Humanities of Toulouse"). It was moved 1841 and again in 1981. In 1987, Genevieve Soucail of the Toulouse Observatory and her collaborators presented data of a blue ring-like structure in

Abell 370 Abell 370 is a galaxy cluster located nearly 5 billion light-years away from the Earth (at redshift ''z'' = 0.375), in the constellation Cetus. Its core is made up of several hundred galaxies. It was catalogued by George Abell, and is the most ...

and proposed a gravitational lensing interpretation In the 1990s the observatory worked on MEGACAM with several other institutions.

People & Directors

The observatory was started by Garipuy in the 1730s with support from the Academy of Sciences.

Félix Tisserand François Félix Tisserand (13 January 1845 – 20 October 1896) was a French astronomer. Life Tisserand was born at Nuits-Saint-Georges, Côte-d'Or. In 1863 he entered the École Normale Supérieure, and on leaving he went for a month as profes ...

was a famous director from 1873 to 1878. He published ''Recueil d'exercices sur le calcul infinitesimal'' as well as making several expeditions, including an 1874 trip to Japan. Henri Joseph Anastase Perrotin was Tisserand's assistant astronomer, and they both went to the Paris Observatory in 1878. Tisserand was succeeded by Benjamin Baillaud.

History & Telescopes

The observatory was originally founded in 1733. Launch instruments at the observatory included two refractors and 28 inch quadrant, and one clock. By 1840 and additional clock by Julien le Roi of Paris was added. Among the early observations at the observatory were the 1736 and 1743

transits of Mercury frameless, upright=0.5 A transit of Mercury across the Sun takes place when the planet Mercury passes directly between the Sun and a superior planet. During a transit, Mercury appears as a tiny black dot moving across the Sun as the planet obs ...

. These observations were conducted by Garipuy, who also observed the transit of Mercury in 1753. Garipuy also built and observatory in his house and conducted observations from there. By 1770 a new larger observatory was established and again in the 1840s. In 1871-1873 Toulouse observatory switched from being a municipal to provincial observatory. In 1873 a 4.5 inch (10.8 cm) refractor by Secretan was added to the Observatory. In 1875 a reflecting telescope by Henry Brothers was added. The diameter

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

was a reflecting telescope (i.e. mirror) mounted on an

equatorial Equatorial may refer to something related to: *Earth's equator **the tropics, the Earth's equatorial region **tropical climate *the Celestial equator ** equatorial orbit **equatorial coordinate system ** equatorial mount, of telescopes * equatorial ...

. In 1880 the reflector was re mounted on a

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

design by Gautier, replacing the wood mounting. Also in 1880 a new refractor (lens) was acquired, a 9 inch (22 cm) aperture by Brunner. Several other instruments were added at this time, and in the early 1900s a new telescope for the Pic Du Midi mountaintop observatory was also added. In the 1880s Toulouse Observatory sent some of its oldest instruments to a museum. This included a transit instrument by Lennel dating to 1774, Dollond telescope, and several

quadrants Quadrant may refer to: Companies * Quadrant Cycle Company, 1899 manufacturers in Britain of the Quadrant motorcar * Quadrant (motorcycles), one of the earliest British motorcycle manufacturers, established in Birmingham in 1901 * Quadrant Privat ...

. The observatory participated in the ''Carte Du Ciel'' project, recording over a thousand plates (i.e. astronomical photographs) between 1887 and 1939. In the 1980s astronomers of Toulouse Observatory discovered a

gravitational lens A gravitational lens is a distribution of matter (such as a cluster of galaxies) between a distant light source and an observer that is capable of bending the light from the source as the light travels toward the observer. This effect is known ...

in space. They found an arc around Abel 370 and were able to recognized it as this phenomenon.

Facilities

The observatory has used many telescopes over its lifetime. For example, an 83 cm aperture

reflecting telescope A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...

was installed in 1875. Observatoire de Toulouse Face post.jpg, The eastern façade of the ''Urbain Vitry'' building Observatoire de Toulouse - Coupole Urbain Vitry.jpg, ''Urbain Vitry'' cupola Observatoire de Toulouse - Coupole du télescope de 83 cm.jpg, Cupola of the 83 cm telescope

References

External links

Official Website

Publications of Toulouse Observatory
on Paris Observatory digital library

People & Directors

History & Telescopes

Facilities

See also

References

External links

Further reading