Book ID: CBB001551820

Mt. John, The First 50 Years: A Celebration of Half a Century of Optical Astronomy at the University of Canterbury (2015)

unapi

Hearnshaw, J. B. (Author)
Gilmore, Alan (Author)


Canterbury University Press


Publication Date: 2015
Physical Details: 215 pp.; ill.
Language: English

Mt John University Observatory is New Zealand's only professional research observatory for optical astronomy. John Hearnshaw, a past director of the observatory, has delved into the observatory archives to write this engaging account of Mt John's fascinating history. Alan Gilmore, the recently retired observatory superintendent, has added to this with his personal recollections, having worked at the observatory for more than 34 years. Fifty years ago, in 1965, Mt John University Observatory was founded at Lake Tekapo in the Mackenzie Basin to take advantage of the favourable conditions for astronomy. Telescopes were installed, and in 1981 a lighting ordinance helped protect the site from light pollution. Astronomical research had been thriving on Mt John for 40 years when astro-tourism started to take off, largely due to the venture company Earth & Sky. Today Mt John is both a research observatory and a mecca for stargazing astro-tourists, who come to see the pristine landscape and the amazing dark night skies. It is one of the most beautiful astronomical observatories in the world, but also a place with an often turbulent history, having been rocked by personality battles, funding shortfalls, student demonstrations and, on one occasion, a destructive fire. In spite of all that, its scientific work has been an outstanding success, and Mt John's research work, especially in stellar astronomy, is known and respected around the world. Mt John -- The First 50 Years: A celebration of half a century of optical astronomy at the University of Canterbury is richly illustrated with almost 200 figures, many of them outstanding landscape and nightscape photographs taken by the acclaimed Tekapo photographer, Fraser Gunn.

...More
Reviewed By

Review Orchiston, Wayne (2015) Review of "Mt. John, The First 50 Years: A Celebration of Half a Century of Optical Astronomy at the University of Canterbury". Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (pp. 112-114). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001551820/

Similar Citations

Book McCray, W. Patrick; (2004)
Giant Telescopes: Astronomical Ambition and the Promise of Technology (/isis/citation/CBB000330964/)

Book Kathryn D. Sullivan; (2019)
Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut's Story of Invention (/isis/citation/CBB905524834/)

Book Munns, David P. D.; (2013)
A Single Sky: How an International Community Forged the Science of Radio Astronomy (/isis/citation/CBB001320933/)

Chapter Wayne Orchiston; (2016)
Joseph Ward: Pioneer New Zealand Telescope-Maker (/isis/citation/CBB119826569/)

Chapter Wayne Orchiston; (2016)
The Wanganui Refractor and Its Remarkable English Equatorial Mounting (/isis/citation/CBB457415462/)

Article Kane Mullen; (2020)
Temporary Measures: Women Computers at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, 1890–1895 (/isis/citation/CBB011712539/)

Article Tenn, Joseph S.; (2007)
Lowell Observatory Enters the Twentieth Century---in the 1950s (/isis/citation/CBB000831607/)

Article Smith, Robert W.; (2008)
Beyond the Galaxy: The Development of Extragalactic Astronomy, 1885--1965, Part 1 (/isis/citation/CBB000930121/)

Book Gillespie, Richard; (2011)
The Great Melbourne Telescope (/isis/citation/CBB001250823/)

Article Hoskin, Michael; (2011)
William Herschel and Herschelian Reflectors (/isis/citation/CBB001023542/)

Book Boner, Patrick J.; Tessicini, Dario; (2013)
Celestial Novelties on the Eve of the Scientific Revolution, 1540--1630 (/isis/citation/CBB001200998/)

Article Hoskin, Michael; (2008)
Nebulae, Star Clusters and the Milky Way: From Galileo to William Herschel (/isis/citation/CBB000930134/)

Book Hamel, Jürgen; Keil, Inge; (2007)
Der Meister und die Fernrohre: Das Wechselspiel zwischen Astronomie und Optik in der Geschichte (/isis/citation/CBB000930172/)

Book Dollfus, Audouin; (2006)
La grande lunette de Meudon: les yeux de la découverte (/isis/citation/CBB000930158/)

Book Brandl, Bernhard R.; Stuik, Remko; Katgert-Merkelijn, J. K.; (2010)
400 Years of Astronomical Telescopes: A Review of History, Science and Technology (/isis/citation/CBB001232417/)

Authors & Contributors
Orchiston, Wayne
Hoskin, Michael A.
Sullivan, Kathryn D.
Mullen, Kane
Tessicini, Dario
Tenn, Joseph S.
Concepts
Telescopes
Astronomical observatories
Astronomy
Scientific apparatus and instruments
Instruments, astronomical
Galaxies; nebulae
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
20th century, late
18th century
17th century
21st century
Places
New Zealand
United States
Great Britain
Melbourne (Victoria, Australia)
Estonia
Helsinki (Finland)
Institutions
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Osservatorio astronomico universitario di Bologna
Tartu Observatoorium
Royal Observatory Greenwich
Pulkovo Observatory
Lowell Observatory
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment