I Spy

We decided to make use of our Historic Scotland membership with a visit to Stirling Castle. Well worth the visit, so much more to see than there was on my last visit about 6/7 years ago.

Afternoon tea in the Barcelo Hotel to end the day proved to be a lucky find.

Because I had my camera round my neck as usual the Concierge asked me if I'd like to take photos from the roof and to my surprise there is also an observatory there and this is its telescope.

The telescope is a Newtonian reflector, with a primary (concave) mirror of 12.5 inches diameter and 9 feet in focal length. Its aperture is thus f/9. The mirror is located at the lower end of a wooden (oak) telescope tube, near the top end of which is a small diagonal flat mirror, oval in outline, which reflects the primary image outside the telescope tube, where it can be examined by means of an eyepiece of selected power.

The telescope was designed, constructed and installed by William Peck (1862-1925) in 1889, evidently when he was still a young man of 27. He was already City Astronomer of Edinburgh, and became famous both as a writer of popular books on astronomy, and as a prolific inventor. He was knighted in 1917.

The telescope has what is known as a German equatorial mounting, supported by a cast iron framework which in turn sits on a bedplate on top of a massive brick plinth extending through the observatory floor. The observatory has a rotating domed roof sheathed in copper whose green surface makes it a familiar landmark atop the stair tower of the Old High School in Spittal Street.