Dr. James Armsby

In a previous post, I mentioned that Dudley had benefited from two institution builders, the first being Ormsby Macknight Mitchel.  Mitchel was an energetic founder of observatories and lecturer on the…

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Where Was Dudley?

I get this question a lot.  Actually, I usually get “Where IS Dudley?”, which requires me to explain that we don’t have an observatory at the moment, but we’re working…

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Restoration of the Pruyn

I’ve been telling everyone for years now that the Pruyn Brashear Telescope is in good shape.  It looks that way to me, but really,  I’m not the expert.  Thankfully, the telescope experts…

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Where Was Dudley? Part 2

In 1892, Dudley Observatory director Benjamin Boss took stock of the observatory’s position in the field of astronomy and found it wanting.  Dudley was had fallen behind the times, with…

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Instruments

In regards to the last post, here’s Verplanck Colvin himself, taking notes on the right.  The instrument he’s using is called a theodolite, which is essentially a small rotating telescope…

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The Total Eclipse of 1878

As we gear up for the Eclipse Across America this summer, it’s worth looking back at the history of eclipse viewing and the role it played in modern astronomy.  Treks out to…

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