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A Cooke Troughton 5 inch telescope was being offered for sale in Ormskirk by W A Howe in 1968. There was also a 14 foot diameter dome observatory for sale. The fact that this was advertised as a Cooke Troughton telescopes suggest it was post a relatively modern instrument being a post 1922 instrument. www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in…
Nature July 6 th 1876 Mira Ceti Reference is often made in treatises on astronomy to the unusual degree of brilliancy attained by this variable star at the maximum of 1779. From the observations of Bode, Herschel and Wargentin, we have the following particulars of the augmentation and diminution of brightness in that year. Aug 22 – Invisible in an ordinary 2 feet telescope Sept 8 – Seen with the…
Two Cooke telescopes were being offered for sale in Newcastle in 1945 by Hartley Hopper. One was a 4 inch and the other was a 5 inch. I don’t have any information regarding the histories of these two telescopes. www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
In 1952 a telescope with a 5 inch lens made by Thomas Cooke & Sons was for sale. It was the property of Mr H L Dilks who I believe had been a previous president of the Manchester Astronomical Society between 1937 - 45. As is often the case I don’t know who might have owned the telescope before Mr Dilks. Although the lens and equatorial mount, iron pillar and clockwork drive were made by Cooke the…
Nature June 22 nd 1876 According to the photographs taken daily at Montmartre by M. Janssen , no spots have now been noticed on the Sun since March 25 th . At the last meeting of the Paris Academy, M. Leverrier announced that in addition to the solar work to be carried out by M. Janssen in the new physical observatory of Paris, M. Cornu has been appointed to make corresponding searches in the…
Charles Pritchard FRAS (1808-1893) Hurst Hill on the Isle of Wight purchased from Thomas Cooke & Sons in 1865 an equatorial mounting for his Cooke telescope. I can only assume he wanted to upgrade the mounting for the telescope he had . In the late 1850s Pritchard had purchased from Cooke & Sons a 6.75 inch telescope. Pritchard was elected Savilian professor of Astronomy at Oxford University in…
Nature June 8 th 1876 Regular courses of lectures have been established at the Naval Observatory, Montsouris, for the officers of the French National navy attached to the establishment. The general principals of astronomical observations are lectured upon by M. Loewy; Special Naval methods, by Capt. Turquet, the Director of the establishment; Terrestrial Magnetism, by M. Marie Davy, Director of…
If you think of Worcester Sauce you may think of Lea & Perrins, what you might struggle to find is a link with astronomy. However in 1867 James Dyson Perrins (1823-1887) purchased a 3.25 inch educational telescope from Thomas Cooke & Sons York. James Dyson Perrins was the son of William Henry Perrins who joint founded the company in 1837 with John Wheeley Lea. He would help run the company after…
Nature June 1 st 1876 The Observatory at Athens The death is announced of Baron Simon von Sina, son of the founder of the observatory at Athens, which has been under the direction of M Bouris and Herr Julius Schmidt. The deceased Baron is mentioned as a liberal patron of this establishment, though not himself engaged in scientific pursuits, and Herr Schmidt writes doubtfully of the future of the…
Join me, Martin Lunn MBE every Monday evening from 7.00 pm-9.00 pm on the award-winning Astronomy Show on Drystone Radio, probably the only regular astronomy show on any radio station in the country. I will take my weekly look at the night sky and look at all the latest news in astronomy. There will be the astronomical anniversaries this week plus the latest news from the astronomical societies in…
Algernon Peckover FRAS (1803-1894) was a banker from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, in 1864 he purchased a Thomas Cooke & Sons 5.5-inch telescope. There were 5 astronomical eyepieces, and it came with a plain equatorial mounting. The cost was £130 (today 2026 that would be over £21,400). In 1865 he purchased a driving clock for the equatorial www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
Nature May 25th 1876 Paris Observatory There is at present being erected in the Paris Observatory Gardens a house for the Bishofsheim transit instrument, which has been constructed admirably by Eichens. The house possesses many peculiarities and was designed by M Leverrier for the better insuring of equality of temperature. The roof can be removed on horizontal rails, and the walls are so…
In 1859 Edward Moore of Queens College Oxford purchased a 3 inch telescope from Thomas Cooke. I have no further details on either the man or the telescope www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
Nature May 25 th 1876 Mr Birmingham, Millbrook, Tuan, mentions (Astro Nache 2092) his having remarked an intensely red star of magnitude 8.5 which is not in Schjellerup’s catalogue. From its approximate position given the star appears to be No. 3168 in Durchmusterung, where it is estimated at magnitude 8.5. It has not been found in any other catalogues. Today this star is known as T Lyrae in the…
In 1859 W. Mitchell of St. Johns Wood, London purchased a 3.5-inch telescope from Thomas Cooke. The telescope had a focal length of 4 feet and 4 inches, plus 4 astronomical and 1 terrestrial eyepiece. It came with an equatorial mount. The cost was £60. In 2023 prices that would be £9.785. I have no other information at the moment about W Mitchell. www.theramblingastronomer.co.uk
