Email: Survey Officer
Astronomers
Observatories
Armagh Observatory [AO](1789- ), established by the Richard Robinson, archbishop of Armagh. Its directors are: James Hamilton (1790-1815); William Davenport (1815-1823); Thomas Romney Robinson (1823-1882); John Louis Emil Dreyer (1882-1916); Joseph Hardcastle (1917); William Ellison (1918-1936); Eric Lindsay (1937-1974); Mart de Groot (1976-1994); Mark Bailey (1995-2016 ); Michael Burton (2016-). Acting Directors include Theresa Hardcastle, Ernst Julius Öpik, Harlow Shapley, Fred Byrne and Gerry Doyle. Specialises in stellar astrophysics, massive stars, galaxy formation and solar system astronomy, it is located near the centre of the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland. The Armagh Observatory and Planetarium joined into a single institution in 2016. Armagh Observatory has been home to an active post-graduate and PhD research programme since 1942 and has an active volunteer programme. Its notable equipment, excluding meridian instruments, include, an equatorial instrument (2 3/4-inch refractor) by Ed. Troughton (1795), a 15-inch reflector by T. Grubb (1835), and a 10-inch Refractor (1885) by H. Grubb (Howse 1986, 64; Bennett 1990) [Coordinates: 54° 21’N, 6° 39’W].
Castledillon (Castle Dillon) Observatory [CDOA](1710-1712), Drummanmore Road, Armagh, established by Samuel Molyneux, tradition maintains that a small observatory was built by him. No astronomical observations are recorded at the house, but a small domed structure remains from this period (Paterson 1951, 172).
Roberts’s Tullyroan Observatory (1908-1942) [RTO], Tullyroan Townland, established by William John Roberts after his marriage in 1905. The observatory was equipped with two 4-inch telescopes, one of unknown origin, and the other by Broadhurst & Clarkson, and after 1922, a 5.25-inch telescope made by Rev. W.F.A. Ellison. The observatory was unheated and was in regular use until his death in 1942.
Associated Sites
Armagh Planetarium (1965- ), established by Eric Lindsay, seventh Director of the nearby Armagh Observatory in 1965 at a cost of £120 000. Patrick Moore oversaw construction and was first planetarium director. The following individuals served as Directors, permanent and acting, until it joined Armagh Observatory in 2016 under one Director, Michael Burton; Patrick Moore, Terry Mosley, Thomas Rackham, Terence Murtagh, Martin Radcliffe, Ian Griffith, Fred Byrne, Tom Mason, Jorick Vink. The original projector was a ‘Goto Mars’ and retired in 1977, replaced by Minolta Viewlex which was retired in 1995 and is now in the South Downs Planetarium in Chichester, Sussex. Today the planetarium features a Digistar 7 system from Evans and Sutherland as well as an expanded exhibition space featuring temporary and permanent exhibitions. Armagh Planetarium went on to pioneer the use of video projectors. There was a major refurbishment in 2006.
Survey of Astronomical History 