SRB07

DUNSINK / ASTRONOMER ROYAL FOR IRELAND

The Dunsink position gave him a fair sized residence only yards from the Observatory, plus 14 acres of farmland. He had married back in 1868 and now had a young family to support. His wife, Frances was the daughter of Dr William Steele, registrar of the Royal Dublin society and an old friend of Robert Ball Snr.
I was amused by the history of Dunsink. Francis Andrews had left a legacy of Ł3000 plus Ł250 pa to set up the chair of Astronomy at Trinity and the building of an Observatory. This calendar gives an indication of progress or lack of it during its early years.

Brinkley was therefore waiting 18 years for his telescope; fortunately he had another 18 years to use it.
Ball accounted for this by saying that astronomers are used to dealing with such stupendous periods in their calculations, that a 20 year wait for a telescope was small by comparison.

Ball’s tenure at Dunsink lasted for 18 years; until 1892 and much of his observing time was devoted to the study of stellar parallax. It has been said that he was not successful in these observations, as in 15 years he was never able to measure any stellar parallax whatsoever, in all the 368 stars he studied. He was though a meticulous observer, and he just proved with the instruments available at the time that there were no measurable parallaxes to be found in the stars he observed. Of course he might have had more success if he had known that he was looking at the wrong type of stars. He was looking at red giants instead of red dwarfs. But there were others at work at the same time who did find evidence of parallaxes; Edward Barnard for example.

When he was not observing, and at various times throughout each year, he would embark on lecture tours, perfecting the art of taking science out to the general public, as well as to academic audiences.

During the period 1874 -1884 he gave over 700 public lectures and was in great demand, both in Ireland and on the British mainland. He had also written many scientific papers and had embarked on his first book ”The Story of the Heavens” which was published in 1885. He became very well known and respected, and for his services to science and education was knighted in 1886 in Dublin Castle by Lord Carnarvon, who was at the time Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

On Sundays he would rise early and would walk from Dunsink across Phoenix Park to take breakfast with the members of Dublin Zoological society in the picturesque grounds of Dublin Zoo. In later years he could be seen cycling through the park on a “Facile”.
There were a number of notable occurrences at Dunsink which are worth mentioning. When he arrived in 1874, his assistant, Dr Ralph Copeland was away in Mauritius observing the transit of Venus. On his return he brought with him a number of insect cocoons of the species latrodectus mitrometricus , which were to prove invaluable in his parallax work. Latrodectus are from the Black Widow family, which enabled Ball to furnish the new micrometer transit circle with spider lines.

In 1876 the Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro ll paid a visit to Dublin, and as was his custom, would often arrive at locations entirely unannounced, but expected people to move heaven and earth to grant him his wishes. It was midnight on a Saturday evening and he asked the Mayor of Dublin to arrange a visit on the next day to the eminent scientist who was making the telescope for the Vienna Observatory. He said he thought his name was mub or bub. The mayor and his minions didn’t have a clue, but then someone remembered that Ireland had an Astronomer Royal. The next morning, at an early hour, Ball was surprised to see the mayor’s coach coming at full speed up the hill to the observatory. The mayor’s secretary asked if he knew who the scientist was. Of course Ball knew that it was Howard Grubb, but said it was doubtful that he could get him to open his factory, and have his craftsmen on duty at such short notice; it was SUNDAY. The secretary would not take no for an answer and messages were sent to Grubb to be ready. The Emperor had a hectic schedule planned, but at the appointed hour Grubb and Ball were there to meet him. Ball, it turned out was on the steering committee for the telescope, and so was able to engage in a fruitful conversation with the Emperor. Grubb was pleased to be able to show the Emperor the 27” object glass for the Vienna equatorial. A few months later, Dom Pedro was visiting the Centennial Expo in Philidelphia. It was judging day for the exhibitors, and one exhibit was about to be passed over by the judges, when the Emperor dashed in and warmly greeted the exhibitor ( he had met him some years before) No-one seemed interested in the apparatus, but the Emporer was invited to put it his ear. He did so, listened, then dropping the handpiece exclaimed By God, it talks ! The exhibitor was Alexander Graham Bell.