This image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
License
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg with a 7 1/2 inch object lens by Merz of Munich. Ordered in 1840 and delivered to the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, in 1848 where it was used for stellar parallax observations. Includes observer's desk, chair and stool.
Completed in 1848, this heliometer was made by A & G Repsold, Hamburg and installed in the Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford. It was the first and only large example of this sort of instrument to be used in England. The heliometer is a split-lens micrometer originally developed for accurately measuring the angular diameter of the Sun. The instrument was later adapted to make precise measurement of star positions. It was used to detect the tiny shifts in nearby stars due to parallax as the Earth orbits the Sun. In 1838, the German astronomer Friedrich Bessel was able to make the first accurate parallax measurements and hence calculate the distance to the nearby star of 61 Cygni.
Box for the spilt-lens micrometer for the 7 1/2-inch Heliometer by Repsold, 1848
Objective lens for the 7 1/2-inch Heliometer by Repsold, with wooden case
Sheet from a German newspaper printed in the 19th century, found in the woodern case for the objective lens for the 7 1/2-inch Heliometer by Repsold, Munich.
Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg with a 7 1/2 inch object lens by Merz of Munich. Ordered in 1840 and delivered to the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, in 1848 where it was used for stellar parallax observations.
Observer's chair for Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg with a 7 1/2 inch object lens by Merz of Munich.
Observer's stool for Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg with a 7 1/2 inch object lens by Merz of Munich.
Observer's desk for Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg with a 7 1/2 inch object lens by Merz of Munich.
Guiding rod, previously hung from Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg.
Guiding rod, previously hung from Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg.
Guiding rod, previously hung from Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg.
Five guiding rods, previously hung from Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg.
Guiding rod, previously hung from Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg.
Loose parts of Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg
Guiding rod, previously hung from Heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg.
Bottom magnifying lens, eyepiece end, from heliometer built by A. & G. Repsold of Hamburg with a 7 1/2 inch object lens by Merz of Munich. Ordered in 1840 and delivered to the Radcliffe Observatory, Oxford, in 1848 where it was used for stellar parallax observations. Includes observer's desk, chair and stool.
Completed in 1848, this heliometer was made by A & G Repsold, Hamburg and installed in the Radcliffe Observatory at Oxford. It was the first and only large example of this sort of instrument to be used in England. The heliometer is a split-lens micrometer originally developed for accurately measuring the angular diameter of the Sun. The instrument was later adapted to make precise measurement of star positions. It was used to detect the tiny shifts in nearby stars due to parallax as the Earth orbits the Sun. In 1838, the German astronomer Friedrich Bessel was able to make the first accurate parallax measurements and hence calculate the distance to the nearby star of 61 Cygni.
