Marseille Observatory facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Marseille Observatory |
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| Location | Marseille, France |
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Coordinates
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43°18′20″N 5°23′41″E / 43.30547°N 5.39477°E
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The Marseille Observatory (in French: Observatoire de Marseille) is a special place in Marseille, France. It's where scientists study space and the stars. This observatory has a long history, starting way back in the early 1700s!
In 1877, the observatory's director, Édouard Stephan, made an amazing discovery. He found a group of galaxies now called Stephan's Quintet. Today, the Marseille Observatory is a joint research center. It is run by Aix-Marseille University and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
The old observatory buildings at Palais Longchamp are a popular place to visit. There's even a planetarium that opened in 2001. One cool thing to see is the Foucault glass-mirror telescope. You can also find many other items from centuries of space study.
Foucault's telescope was very important for its time. It was one of the first big reflecting telescopes to use a thin layer of metal on a shaped piece of glass. Before this, most mirrors were made entirely of metal. It took another 50 years for silvered glass mirrors to become common in astronomy. Later, in the 20th century, scientists found a new way to coat glass with silver using vapor.
Contents
A Look at the 18th Century
The Marseille Observatory first opened in 1701. It was located in an area called Montée des Accoules, near Vieux Port. The first director was Antoine Laval.
In 1761, astronomers at the observatory watched a special event. This was the 1761 transit of Venus. A transit is when a planet passes directly in front of the Sun. They used a 6-foot-long telescope made by James Short. The astronomer Louis Lagrange led these observations.
In 1789, a man named Jean-Louis Pons started working at the observatory. He began as a doorkeeper but also learned about astronomy. By 1801, he found his first comet! Pons became one of the most successful comet discoverers ever. He found 37 comets in total. This was a huge number for that time.
Discoveries in the 19th Century
Another astronomer, Jean-Félix Adolphe Gambart, also discovered many comets from the old observatory. He found 16 comets. Benjamin Valz was another important astronomer there.
Jean-Louis Pons, who started as a doorkeeper, discovered his first comet in 1801. He went on to find 37 more during his career. Many of these discoveries happened at the Marseille Observatory.
One famous comet he found was the Comet Pons-Brooks. He discovered it in July 1812. It wasn't seen again until June 1883. Other well-known comets found by Pons include 7P/Pons–Winnecke, 12P/Pons–Brooks, and 273P/Pons–Gambart.
Pons also discovered comets that later became known by other names. These include Encke's Comet, Comet Crommelin, and Biela's Comet. This happens sometimes because comets can be re-discovered. Or, they might be found by several people at the same time. Some comets are even named after the first person to figure out their path, like Halley's comet.
In 1863, the Marseille Observatory became part of the Paris Observatory. This led to a new building being built. It opened in 1864. The architect who designed it also designed Notre-Dame de la Garde. An 80 cm (about 31.5 inches) reflecting telescope was also installed that year at the Palais Longchamp site.
More improvements were made. By 1866, a special telescope called a Comet seeker was added. It had an 18 cm opening. In 1872, a 25.8 cm (10.25 inch) refractor telescope was installed. This telescope was on an equatorial mounting, which helps it track stars.
Léon Foucault used his 80 cm silver-on-glass reflecting telescope at Marseille Observatory. This telescope was used from about 1862 until 1965. It was a groundbreaking design because it used glass coated with silver.
The observatory also had tools for studying Earth's magnetic fields.
In 1872, the observatory reported finding several new nebulae. Nebulae are giant clouds of gas and dust in space.
By 1873, the Marseille Observatory announced the discovery of 300 new nebulae. They carefully mapped the positions of 75 of these. They did this by comparing them to known stars.
In 1873, the Marseille Observatory became independent from the Paris Observatory again.
In 1874, the comet C/1874 H1 was discovered from the observatory.
The 20th Century and Beyond
In 1914, scientists at the observatory studied the Orion Nebula. They used a special tool called a Perot-Fabry interferometer.
The famous Foucault 80 cm reflecting telescope was retired in 1965.
In 1989, a new Marseille telescope was finished. It was then sent to the Southern Hemisphere later that year. This reflecting telescope has a 36 cm (about 14.2 inches) mirror. It's a special type called a Ritchey–Chrétien telescope.
Starting in 1990, the Marseille Observatory began studying H alpha (Hα) in the southern part of our galaxy. This included looking at the Magellanic Clouds. They used the 36 cm Marseille telescope at La Silla observatory for this research. The telescope had special equipment to help with the study.
In 1999, the observatory published a study about how planets form. They used a powerful computer system called GRAPE-4 to simulate how proto-planets and planetesimals grow into large planets.
The 2000s and Modern Research
In 2000, the Marseille Observatory joined with another lab. They became the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM). This was part of a larger group called the Observatoire Astronomique Marseille Provence. This group also included the Haute-Provence Observatory.
In 2008, LAM moved to a brand new, large building. It's located in the Technopôle Chateau-Gombert in Marseille. This new facility has special areas for testing space instruments. It also has areas for making and measuring optical mirrors. LAM astronomers study big topics like cosmology (the study of the universe). They also research galaxy evolution, exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), and our own Solar System. They also work on new optics and instruments.
In 2012, the Observatoire Astronomique Marseille Provence merged again. This time, it joined with other Earth science research groups from Aix-Marseille University. They formed a new organization called the Observatoire des Science de l'Univers Institut Pythéas (OSU-IP). This group now includes six major labs for Earth and universe sciences.
Visiting the Palais Longchamp Facilities
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The old Marseille Observatory site is a popular tourist attraction in the Palais Longchamp area. Here, you can see exhibits like the historic Foucault telescope. There is also a planetarium where you can watch shows about space.
The planetarium has 30 seats and opened in 2001.
The buildings at Plateau Longchamp date back to the 1860s. The very first observatory was at Vieux Port.
Directors of the Observatory
- Antoine Laval, 1702-1728
- Esprit Pézenas, 1729-1763
- Saint-Jacques de Silvabelle, 1763-1801
- Jacques-Joseph Thulis, 1801-1810
- Jean-Jacques Blanpain, 1810-1821
- Jean-Félix Adolphe Gambart, 1821-1836
- Benjamin Valz, 1836-1860
- Charles Simon, known as Darembert, 1861-1863
- Auguste Voigt, 1863-1865
- Édouard Stephan, 1866-1907
- Henry Bourget, 1907-1921
- Henri Buisson, (interim director) 1921-1923
- Jean Bosler, 1923-1948
- Charles Fehrenbach, 1948-1971
- James Lequeux, 1983-1988
- Roger Malina, 2008-
See also
In Spanish: Observatorio de Marsella para niños
- List of astronomical observatories
- List of largest optical telescopes of the 19th century
