Record

RefNoMS/257/2/222
AltRefNoSa.604
Previous numbersES2/35/603-4
LevelItem
TitleSecond half of letter from Robert Grant, Glasgow Observatory to Allen Thomson
Date16 May 1865
Description[This is a continuation of MS/257/2/221]

Reference to stars and planets observed. Grant notes this is ‘the only Scottish observatory at which observations of the minor planets are made’.

Discussion regarding extra-meridional observations made at the Observatory details of the instruments used for this purpose. Grant notes ‘no extra-meridional observations are made at any other Scottish observatory’. Reference to ‘the transmission of true time from the observatory’. Discussion regarding meteorological observations carried out at the [Glasgow] Observatory.

Informs Thomson lectures are delivered annually at the College and Observatory. Grant has found two ‘indispensable’ assistants to assist in the various operations of the Observatory, and ‘remunerates’ them from his own ‘small salary’ as the University [of Glasgow] suggests there are funds applicable for this. Grant expresses the need for two assistants to continue their important work, as opposed to the inaction of the Observatory making their ‘magnificent’ instruments ‘useless’. Grant compares the condition of the Edinburgh Observatory, notes the ‘provision’ for two assistants, however they cannot compare with the ‘instrumental equipment’ of the [Glasgow] Observatory.

Grant discusses his opinion that the Greenwich Observatory is the national observatory of Scotland and other ‘sections of the British Isles’, not the Edinburgh Observatory.
Extent14p
FormatManuscript
PhysicalDescriptionInk on paper
AccessStatusOpen
RelatedRecordMS/257/2/221
Fellows associated with this archive
CodePersonNameDates
NA3586Grant; Robert (1814 - 1892)1814 - 1892
NA3673Thomson; Allen (1809 - 1884)1809 - 1884
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