Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9077
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Telescope speculum for Lord Rosse’s 72-inch telescope at Birr Castle, Ireland
Date
1861
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 132mm
width (print): 118mm
width (print): 118mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Plate 24 figure 1 from the paper "On the construction of specula of six-feet aperture; and a selection from the observations of nebulae made with them", by William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, volume 151 (1861) pp.681-746. A view of the speculum on supporting levers supported on a cast iron rail carriage. The carriage is shown on a turntable situated to the north side of the 72-inch reflecting telescope, with the background screened off by a dark cloth. Details include the carriage's lime-boxes. The instrument, the largest reflecting telescope in the world when built, was at Birr Castle, Parsonstown, Ireland. The image is inscribed in pencil, verso "Original which may assist in understanding the reduced copy" and "Lord Rosse's Paper June/61".
Object history
This photograph was supplied for reproduction in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
Associated place