William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
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Third Earl of William Parsons Rosse
(1800–1867)
An Irish astronomer who, in 1845, built by far the largest telescope in the world at the time, a 72-in. (1.8-m) reflector, on the grounds of Birr Castle, Parsonstown, Ireland. Its mirror was made of speculum and its wood and metal tube, 17 m long, was supported between two parallel masonry walls. The so-called Leviathan of Parsonstown was used mainly for the study of nebulae and (what we know today to be) galaxies, its most notable discovery being the spiral nature of M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy). Although a great milestone in the development of large telescopes, the Leviathan was hampered by its cumbersome mounting, the limited area of sky to which it had access, and the southern Irish weather.
An Irish astronomer who, in 1845, built by far the largest telescope in the world at the time, a 72-in. (1.8-m) reflector, on the grounds of Birr Castle, Parsonstown, Ireland. Its mirror was made of speculum and its wood and metal tube, 17 m long, was supported between two parallel masonry walls. The so-called Leviathan of Parsonstown was used mainly for the study of nebulae and (what we know today to be) galaxies, its most notable discovery being the spiral nature of M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy). Although a great milestone in the development of large telescopes, the Leviathan was hampered by its cumbersome mounting, the limited area of sky to which it had access, and the southern Irish weather.
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William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
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William Parsons 3rd earl of Rosse
(born June 17, 1800, York, Eng.died Oct. 31, 1867, Monkstown, County Cork, Ire.) Irish astronomer. His Leviathan, 54 ft (16.5 m) long, was the largest reflecting telescope of the 19th century, and its mirror had a diameter of 72 in. (183 cm). With it Rosse discovered the spiral shape of many objects then classed as nebulae, now recognized as galaxies, and he studied and named the Crab Nebula. He was also the first to discover binary and triple stars. As Lord Oxmantown, he sat in the House of Commons (182134); on inheriting his father's earldom in 1841, he joined the House of Lords.
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William Parsons Rosse, third earl of
Irish astronomer and telescope builder (1800–1867)
The eldest son of the second earl of Rosse, William Parsons was born at York in England. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford University, where he graduated in 1822. He was a member of parliament from 1822 until 1834, when he resigned to devote himself to science.
Rosse's main aim was to build a telescope at least as large as those of William Herschel. As Herschel had left no details of how to grind large mirrors, Rosse had to rediscover all this for himself. It was not until 1839 that he had made a 3-inch (8-cm) mirror; this was followed by mirrors of 15 inches (38 cm), 24 inches (61 cm), and 36 inches (91 cm) until, in 1842, he felt confident enough to start work on his 72-inch (183-cm) masterpiece. He was only successful on the fifth casting. It weighed 8960 pounds (4064 kg), cost £12,000, and became known as the ‘Leviathan of Corkstown’. Its tube was over 50 feet (15 m) long and because of winds it had to be protected by two masonry piers 50 feet high and 23 feet (7 m) apart in which it was supported by an elaborate system of platforms, chains, and pulleys.
The giant reflector suffered, despite the cost and time, from two major defects. The climate of central Ireland is such that very few nights of viewing are possible during the year. Also, viewing (when possible), was restricted by the piers to a few degrees of the north–south meridian. Despite this Rosse made a couple of discoveries. He was the first to identify a spiral nebula and went on to discover 15 of them. He also named and studied the Crab nebula, which has been so important to contemporary astronomy. The telescope was finally dismantled in 1908. More than the individual discoveries made by Rosse, the Leviathan was important in the warnings it gave telescope builders. Good big mirrors were needed but they were by no means sufficient; in addition a good site and an adequate mounting were necessary.
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William Parsons Rosse, third earl of
Rosse, William Parsons, 3d earl of (rôs), 1800-1867, British astronomer and constructor of telescopes. He served as member of Parliament for King's Co., Ireland (1821-34), Irish representative peer (from 1845), president of the British Association (1843), president of the Royal Society (1849-54), and chancellor of the Univ. of Dublin (from 1862). His greatest interest was the construction of specula of large size for reflecting telescopes; he overcame defects caused by warping and cracking of surfaces in the cooling process and counteracted to a considerable degree other defects. His great reflecting telescope, with a speculum 6 ft (1.8 m) in diameter, the largest up to that time, was mounted in his park at Parsonstown (now Birr), Ireland, in 1845. For many years it was chiefly devoted to the study of the nebulae. Some nebulae that had eluded Sir William Herschel were resolved into groups of stars, many binary and triple stars were discovered, and the moon was more completely described.
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William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse
| The Earl of Rosse | |
|---|---|
 William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse |
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| Born | 17 June 1800 York |
| Died | 31 October 1867 (aged 67) |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Known for | telescope |
William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, Knight of the Order of St Patrick (KP) (17 June 1800 – 31 October 1867) was a British astronomer who had several telescopes built. His 72-inch telescope "Leviathan", built 1845, was the world's largest telescope until the early 20th century.[1]
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Life
He was born in Yorkshire, England, in the city of York, the son of an Irish peer.[2] He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford University's Magdalen College, graduating with first-class honors in mathematics in 1822. He inherited an earldom and a large estate in King's County (now County Offaly) in Ireland when his father Lawrence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse died in 1841.
Rosse married Mary Field, daughter of John Wilmer Field, on 14 April 1836. They had four children:
- Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse (17 November 1840 – 30 August 1908).
- Reverend Randal Parsons (26 April 1848 – 15 November 1936).
- Hon. Richard Clere Parsons (21 February 1851 – 26 January 1923), apparently known for developing railways in South America.
- Sir Charles Algernon Parsons (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931), known for inventing the steam turbine.
In addition to his astronomical interests, Rosse served as an Member of Parliament (MP) for King's County from 1821 to 1834, an Irish representative peer after 1845, president of the Royal Society (1848–1854), and chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin (1862–1867).
Scientific studies
During the 1840s, he had the Leviathan of Parsonstown built, a 72-inch (6 feet/1.83 m) telescope at Birr Castle, Parsonstown, County Offaly. The 72-inch (1.8 m) telescope replaced a 36-inch (910 mm) telescope that he had built previously. He had to invent many of the techniques he used for constructing the Leviathan, both because its size was without precedent and because earlier telescope builders had guarded their secrets or had simply failed to publish their methods. Rosse's telescope was considered a marvelous technical and architectural achievement, and images of it were circulated widely within the British commonwealth. Building of the Leviathan began in 1845 and it was first used in 1847. It was the world's largest telescope until the early 20th century. Using this telescope Rosse saw and cataloged a large number of galaxies.
Lord Rosse performed astronomical studies and discovered the spiral nature of some nebulas, today known to be spiral galaxies. Rosse's telescope Leviathan was the first to reveal the spiral structure of M51, a galaxy nicknamed later as the "Whirlpool Galaxy", and his drawings of it closely resemble modern photographs.
Rosse named the Crab Nebula, based on an earlier drawing made with his older 36-inch (91 cm) telescope in which it resembled a crab. A few years later, when the 72-inch (183 cm) telescope was in service, he produced an improved drawing of considerably different appearance, but the original name continued to be used.
A main component of Rosse's nebular research was attempting to resolve the nebular hypothesis, which posited that planets and stars were formed by gravity acting on gaseous nebulae. Rosse himself did not believe that nebulas were truly gaseous, but rather that they were made of such an amount of fine stars that most telescopes could not resolve them individually (that is, he considered nebulas to be stellar in nature). Rosse and his technicians claimed to resolve the Orion nebula into its individual stars, which would have cosmological and even philosophical implications, as at the time there was considerable debate over whether or not the universe was "evolved" (in a pre-Darwinian sense), a concept with which Rosse disagreed strongly. Rosse's primary opponent in this was John Herschel, who used his own instruments to claim that the Orion nebula was a "true" nebula, and discounted Rosse's instruments as flawed (a criticism Rosse returned about Herschel's own). Eventually, neither man (nor telescope) could establish sufficiently scientific results to resolve the question (the convincing evidence for the gaseous nature of the nebula would be developed later from spectroscopic evidence, though it would not resolve the philosophical issues).
One of Rosse's telescope admirers was Thomas Langlois Lefroy, a fellow Irish MP, who said, "The planet Jupiter, which through an ordinary glass is no larger than a good star, is seen twice as large as the moon appears to the naked eye... But the genius displayed in all the contrivances for wielding this mighty monster even surpasses the design and execution of it. The telescope weighs sixteen tons, and yet Lord Rosse raised it single-handed off its resting place, and two men with ease raised it to any height."[3]
Lord Rosse's son published his father's findings, including the discovery of 226 NGC objects in the publication Observations of Nebulae and Clusters of Stars Made With the Six-foot and Three-foot Reflectors at Birr Castle From the Year 1848 up to the Year 1878, Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society Vol. II, 1878.[4]
Lord Rosse's telescopes
Lord Rosse had a variety of optical reflecting telescopes built.[1] Rosse's telescopes used cast speculum metal ground parabolically and polished.
- 15-inch (38 cm)
- 24-inch (61 cm)
- 36-inch (91 cm) (aka Rosse 3-foot telescope)
- 72-inch (180 cm) (aka Rosse 6-foot telescope or Leviathan), started in 1842 and completed in 1845.
References
- ^ a b http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/resources/explorations//groundup/lesson/scopes/rosse/index.php
- ^ Person Page 1279 at www.thepeerage.com, http://www.thepeerage.com/p1279.htm#i12787, retrieved 2008-10-13
- ^ Lefroy, T. 1871, Memoir of Chief Justice Lefroy, Hodges, Foster & Co., Dublin.
- ^ http://www.klima-luft.de/steinicke/ngcic/persons/rosse3.htm
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Rosse
- A list of galaxies credited to Parsons for seeing first
- William Parsons' biography written in 1868 as an obituary, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Website of Birr Castle, where the telescope was located, has some historical info
- thePeerage.com entry
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Bernard John Clere Parsons |
Member of Parliament for King's County with Thomas Bernard 1821–1833 Nicholas Fitzsimon 1833–1835 1821 – 1835 |
Succeeded by John Craven Westenra Nicholas Fitzsimon |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by The Earl of Limerick |
Representative peer for Ireland 1845–1867 |
Succeeded by The Lord Dunboyne |
| Honorary titles | ||
| New title | Lord Lieutenant of King's County 1831–1867 |
Succeeded by Thomas Bernard |
| Peerage of Ireland | ||
| Preceded by Lawrence Parsons |
Earl of Rosse 1841–1867 |
Succeeded by Lawrence Parsons |
|
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