The Centre of the Universe!
Cosmic Bookmark!
Hitty Henrietta visited a heavenly place yesterday…
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Hillside
…up at the top of a hill in Saanich…
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Centre of the Universe
…we found the actual Centre of the Universe!!
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1:10 scale Model
We visited the interpretive centre to learn about the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory…
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platform
…and Henrietta was given permission to climb inside the working 1:10 scale model…
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Dome
…which was built before the actual observatory buildings were completed in 1916!
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Original mirror
This is the original glass mirror which didn’t arrive until 1918…
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wine bottles
…it’s very thick and made of green wine bottle glass!! The replacement mirror is made of ceramic, with a shiny aluminium coating, which is scrubbed off and reapplied every few years.
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Clock
The telescope was the largest one in the world when it was built, and has been in almost continuous use since 1918. A few things have changed since then besides the mirror. This clock drive was formerly used to keep the telescope tracking the subject during observations.
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up
We went up into the dome, where it was cool to keep the equipment functioning accurately…
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Stable
…and Henrietta got to stand on the huge concrete stabilisers under the east/west gears for aiming the lenses…
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Telescope
…and got as close as she could to the giant telescope. It is amazing that the observatory is still in use, over a hundred years later, and now with modifications that mean the telescope can be positioned, photos and spectra collected, and research carried out by astronomers in far away places. Someone from Turkey was on the schedule this summer, working in their facility in Ankara, they were able to orient the instruments to collect the data they wanted!
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Bosque Allegre
Quimper Hitty human far right of this photo, age 4 in front of the Estación Astrofísica de Bosque Allegre…
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Dad
…from which my dad photographed faint blue stars of the southern hemisphere in the 1950’s and 60’s…
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Cosmic
…isn’t the Universe amazing!
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Click here for a link to the Centre of the Universe Website!
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Quimper Hittys 
That sounds a fascinating visit! I love seeing the stars on a clear night even though I am hopeless at identifying them. I was visiting a friend in London one cold night, frosty night and suggested we go outside to look at the stars. They explained that the light pollution meant stars can’t be seen in London! Here the sky is dark and I am not far from the Brecon Beacons which has dark sky status. I know you are very knowledgeable abouit textiles but do you also do astronomy like your father?
I have never studied Astronomy, but have always been aware of things like constellations, asteroids and phases of the moon (when the moon is full Astronomers get the night off as there is too much light in the sky!)
I never knew the moon was too bright! I shall look next time we have a full one – as long as the sky is clear!
I love this! What a great adventure.
It was an excellent adventure! We were up the Observatory hill, and just checked into the “Centre” on a whim…and found a tour leaving in five minutes! It was meant to be!!!
WOW! Exatcly amazing. Thank you for this beautiful photographs and beautiful adventure, I loved it, how nice to have memories in this amazing subject, astronomy! Love, nia
We really enjoyed our visit…and happy you could visit with us!
Wow!!!!!
We had fun – Hittys and humans both!
The stars are amazing, fascinating and always intriguing! What a blessing to have been a part of your dad’s activity in this study of our outer world.
I am pretty lucky to live in a place where I can actually see the stars! It was a much less interesting sky when I lived in a big city! I am so glad my dad was an astronomer so I have at least a bit of knowledge about celestial occurrences.
We can tend to think of an observatory as a dry, scientific environment, but look at the human ingenuity and patience that it took to use available technology to see into space, plus so many connections to your family (and the fact their model is Hitty scale.) It could not be a more perfectly suited place for you to visit.
It was a perfect an outing! Dry and scientific is a good thing for some people – my dad was very sure that life consisted of facts…so he was good at Astronomy which appears to me mostly math and physics which follow rules!
that miniature telescope! Just amazing!
The model was, and such a good size for Hitty! Apparently it was made in 1915, and travelled around to various places garnering interest and funding commitments! I bet your dad would be interested in examining it!
how amazing….that Henrietta was able to explore the telescope tht was just her size. And your history with the site..I loved seeing the photos. The Quimper Hitty human was adorable!!
Henrietta was so thrilled! She is quite a little scientist, so the model was extremely interesting!
That is amazing the photos with the scale model.
Thanks! We quite enjoyed visiting the centre of the universe, and the model was so great for understanding what we saw later with the real dome and telescope!
Oooh! How wonderful!!! And, what a delight to see your family connection to astronomy- lovely!!!
It was nice taking a little trip down memory lane!
That is so cool! What an interesting visit
It was interesting, we really enjoyed it!