|
Dunsink Observatory
The Dunsink Observatory is an astronomical observatory established in 1785 in the townland of Dunsink in the outskirts of the city of Dublin, Ireland. Alexander Thom''Irish Almanac and Official Directory''7th ed., 1850 p. 258. Retrieved: 2011-02-22. Dunsink's most famous director was William Rowan Hamilton, who, amongst other things, discovered quaternions, the first non-commutative algebra form, while walking from the observatory to the city with his wife. The annual Hamilton Walk that commemorates this discovery begins at the observatory. He is also renowned for his Hamiltonian formulation of dynamics. History The observatory was established by an endowment of £3,000 in the will of Francis Andrews, who was Provost of Trinity College Dublin at his death on 18 June 1774. The site was established on the south slope of a low hill in the townland of Dunsink, 84m above sea level. The South Telescope, a 12-inch Grubb instrument, is a refracting (i.e. it uses lens) telescope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James South
Sir James South (October 1785 – 19 October 1867) was a British astronomer. He was a joint founder of the Astronomical Society of London, and it was under his name, as President of the Society in 1831, that a petition was successfully submitted to obtain a Royal Charter, whereupon it became the Royal Astronomical Society. Life He was born in Southwark in London in October 1785, the son of James South, a pharmaceutical chemist. John Flint South was his younger half-brother. He originally trained as a chemist, then as a surgeon, but his interests in astronomy overtook all things. In 1821 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London and in 1822 a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being Edward Troughton. He won the Copley Medal in 1826 and the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in that same year. He was knighted by King William IV in 1831. Starting around 1826, James South made plans for a new, larger telescope, an equatorially mou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birr Castle
Birr Castle ( Irish: ) is a large castle in the town of Birr in County Offaly, Ireland. It is the home of the 7th Earl of Rosse and his family, and as the castle is generally not open to the public, though the grounds and gardens of the demesne are publicly accessible, and include a science museum and a café, a reflecting telescope which was the largest in the world for decades and a modern radio telescope. History There has been a castle on the site since 1170, and from the 14th to the 17th centuries the O'Carroll family ruled from here over an area known as " Ely O'Carroll". After the death of Sir Charles O'Carroll, Sir Lawrence Parsons (died 1628) was granted Birr Castle and of land in 1620. Parsons engaged English masons in the construction of a new castle. This construction took place, not on the site of the O'Carrolls' Black Tower (since disappeared), but at its gatehouse. "Flankers" were added to the gatehouse diagonally at either side, giving the castle the plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe distant objects – an optical telescope. Nowadays, the word "telescope" is defined as a wide range of instruments capable of detecting different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, and in some cases other types of detectors. The first known practical telescopes were refracting telescopes with glass lenses and were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century. They were used for both terrestrial applications and astronomy. The reflecting telescope, which uses mirrors to collect and focus light, was invented within a few decades of the first refracting telescope. In the 20th century, many new types of telescopes were invented, including radio telescopes in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrews Professorship Of Astronomy
The Andrews Professor of Astronomy is a chair in astronomy in Trinity College Dublin, that was established in 1783 in conjunction with the establishment of Dunsink Observatory. From 1793, under letters patent of King George III, the Andrews Professor held the title Royal Astronomer of Ireland. Both titles fell vacant in 1921 but the professorship was revived in 1984. Dunsink Observatory was founded in 1785 following a bequest by Francis Andrews, who died in 1774 while Provost of Trinity College. Andrews' bequest also funded the eponymous professorship, which was regulated by a new college statute requiring the professor to "make regular observations of the heavenly bodies ... and of the sun, moon and planets". In 1921 Henry Crozier Keating Plummer left Trinity for the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, resigning as Andrews Professor, Royal Astronomer, and Director of Dunsink Observatory. The civil disturbance and political upheaval of the period precluded filling the vacancy q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dublin Institute For Advanced Studies
The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) () is a statutory independent research institute in Dublin, Ireland. It was established, under the Institute For Advanced Studies Act 1940, by the government of the then Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera. The institute consists of three schools: the School of Theoretical Physics, the School of Cosmic Physics and the School of Celtic Studies. The directors of these schools were, as of 2023, Professor Denjoe O'Connor, Professor Tom Ray and Professor Ruairà Ó hUiginn. The institute, under its governing act, is empowered to "train students in methods of advanced research" but does not itself award degrees; graduate students working under the supervision of Institute researchers can, with the agreement of the governing board of the appropriate school, be registered for a higher degree in any university worldwide. Following a comprehensive review of the higher education sector and its institutions, conducted by the Higher Education Author ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Éamon De Valera
Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ireland from 1959 to 1973, and several terms as the Taoiseach. He had a leading role in introducing the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, and was a dominant figure in Irish politics from the early 1930s to the late 1960s, when he served terms as both the head of government and head of state. De Valera was a commandant of the Irish Volunteers (Third Battalion) at Boland's Mill during the Easter Rising, 1916 Easter Rising. He was arrested and sentenced to death, but released for a variety of reasons, including his American citizenship and the public response to the British execution of Rising leaders. He returned to Ireland after being jailed in England and became one of the leading political figures of the Irish War of Independence, War of Inde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenwich Royal Observatory
The Royal Observatory, Greenwich (ROG; known as the Old Royal Observatory from 1957 to 1998, when the working Royal Greenwich Observatory, RGO, temporarily moved south from Greenwich to Herstmonceux) is an observatory situated on a hill in Greenwich Park in south east London, overlooking the River Thames to the north. It played a major role in the history of astronomy and navigation, and because the Prime Meridian passed through it, it gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time, the precursor to today's Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). The ROG has the IAU observatory code of 000, the first in the list. ROG, the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House and the clipper ship '' Cutty Sark'' are collectively designated Royal Museums Greenwich. The observatory was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II, with the foundation stone being laid on 10 August. The old hilltop site of Greenwich Castle was chosen by Sir Christopher Wren, a former Savilian Professor of Astronomy; as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greenwich Mean Time
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a consequence, it cannot be used to specify a particular time unless a context is given. The term "GMT" is also used as Western European Time, one of the names for the time zone UTC+00:00 and, in UK law, is the basis for civil time in the United Kingdom. Because of Earth's uneven angular velocity in its Elliptic orbit, elliptical orbit and its axial tilt, noon (12:00:00) GMT is rarely the exact moment the Sun crosses the Prime meridian (Greenwich), Greenwich Meridian and reaches its highest point in the sky there. This event may occur up to 16 minutes before or after noon GMT, a discrepancy described by the equation of time. Noon GMT is the annual average (the arithmetic mean) moment of this event, which accounts f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Local Mean Time
Local mean time (LMT) is a form of solar time that corrects the variations of local apparent time, forming a uniform time scale at a specific longitude. This measurement of time was used for everyday use during the 19th century before time zones were introduced beginning in the late 19th century; it still has some uses in astronomy and navigation. The difference between local mean time and local apparent time is the equation of time. Past use Local mean time was used from the early 19th century, when local solar time or sundial time was last used until standard time was adopted on various dates in the several countries. Each town or city kept its own meridian, so locations one degree of longitude apart had times four minutes apart. This became a problem in the mid 19th century when railways needed clocks for railway time that were synchronized between stations, while local people needed to match their clock (or the church clock) to the time tables. Standard time means that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time In Ireland
Ireland uses Irish Standard Time (IST, UTC+01:00; ) in the summer months and Greenwich Mean Time ( UTC+00:00; ) in the winter period. Roughly two-thirds of the Republic is located west of the 7.5°W meridian. Thus the local mean time in most of Ireland is closer to UTC-01:00 time than to GMT. The Standard Time Act 1968 legally established that "the time for general purposes in the State (to be known as standard time) shall be one hour in advance of Greenwich mean time throughout the year". This act was amended by the Standard Time (Amendment) Act 1971, which legally established Greenwich Mean Time as a winter time period. Ireland therefore operates one hour behind its statutory standard time during the winter period, and reverts to standard time in the summer months. This definition contrasts with the practice of other states in the European Union, which operate one hour ahead of their standard time during the summer period, but produces the same result. The net effect is t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dublin Mean Time
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, part of the Wicklow Mountains range. Dublin is the largest city by population on the island of Ireland; at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, the city council area had a population of 592,713, while the city including suburbs had a population of 1,263,219, County Dublin had a population of 1,501,500. Various definitions of a metropolitan Greater Dublin Area exist. A settlement was established in the area by the Gaels during or before the 7th century, followed by the Vikings. As the Kingdom of Dublin grew, it became Ireland's principal settlement by the 12th century Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest in the British Empire and sixth largest in Western Europ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
