ASTRONOMICAL STUDY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 27 March 1922, Page 4

ASTRONOMICAL STUDY.

WHY NOT A HAWERA BRANCH OE* THE SOCIETY.

IContributed.) Mr. J, T. Ward, the- huu. directoror ttie Wanganui Observatory, was a. visitor to ±Lawera over the week-end-Mr. Ward is now devoting his nine to. teivscoge making, and is ac present the;, onljf matter or telescopes vi i\ew Zealand. He has made instruments for the following Hawera residents: A_ 12m. reflector and a 3in. refractor for Mr. P. ODea; a bin. reflector and a. am: refractor for Mr. U. M. Town— bend j a «Jln. refractor for Mr. j<\ (iawith; and a 2jm. refractor ior MrE. Barns. He has just completed a. l'2\in. reflector for the Dunedin Astrouomical Society," which will be the mostpowerful instrument in the Dominion. He has afso completed two lOin. reflectors tor. enthusiasts in Hamilton, and .Whangarei, and very many of smaller size for different parts of NewZealand- The optical parts he hasturned out are quite equal to the workof the best English makers. Mr. 6. M. Townsend, of "Hawera, has a 6in. reflector which for defining power isquite the equal of the Caiver, which is. the best English" make. ~ Mr. Ward is. at present engaged in remodelling the* mounting for the 6in. refractor of theNew Plymouth Astronomical Society. Altogether throughout New Zealand, there is an increased interest in astronomical wor£, and it would almostseem as though there were sufficient enthus!s*r&s in and around Hawera to~ form a branch of the New Zealand. Astronomical Society here. This societyhas (just had its t first election of officers,, which resulted as follows: President, Mr. C. E. Adams, D.Sc. (Government Astronomer); vice-presi-dents, Hon. Sir Francis Bell, Professor E. Marsden, D.Sc. (Wellington), Mr. T. Allison, F.R.A.S. .(Wanganui), Dr. CMumo Hector (Wellington); secretary,. Professor Sommerville, D.Sc. (Wellington) ; treasurer, Mr. C. G. Berry (Wellington): editor, Mr. A. C. Gifford^ M.A., Wellington; council, the abovearitt Mr. J. C. Begg (Dunedin), Hon. Mr.'^Justice Chapman (Wellington)^. Mr. E. G. Hogg, M.A. (Christchurchj, Captain G. S. Hooper (Wellington),. 1 and Mr. J. T. Ward (Wanganui). Sir Ilobert Stout, who had been prominent*, in bringing the society into being, did not seek election, as he was absent. ! from the Dominion.

! If the offer of the Yale University (U.S.A.) to the New Zealand Govern— | ment can be accepted ft will mean a^ great impetus to astronomical study in ffes Dominion. The offer was of a. £25,000 reTractbr free to New Zealand, which would mean the largest instrn- ! went in the Southern Hemisphere, and:" I two trained observers to work same,. I provided the New Zealand tjfovernmenfc housed the plant and found the additional observers" required. This is esti- | mated to cost a further £25.000, and: i the Government will not find the money j usless~"priyate donors assist. The Hon. Mr. Justice Chapman, a member of" [ the council of th© N.Z.A.S., speaking-: Ito tho writer recently, said he did not. despair of getting the necessary money,, as he was in communication with a*. gentleman overseas blessed with a. ! superfluity of this world's goods, whomay materially help. All the same, it, is a reflection on the Empire that this; generous offer should. come from theUnited States, and Mr. Arthur Me©,. of Cardiff, writing in the English. Mechanic concerning this offer, deplored the fact that there were a number of large instruments lying idle? in England, which could have been presented to New Zealand. And, of-* course, the Yale offer is not all generosity. One of the conditions of the* proffered gift is that the telescopeshould work the southern heavens in.i conjunction with the Yale observatory, which would work the northern heavens; —in other words, the New Zealand' observatory would collaborate with, buthe subordinate to, the Yale observatory. Harvard University (U.S.A.) similarlyworks a southern observatory at Are--quipa, in Peru. It is a pity that we are not betterequipped astronomically, if only forobservation of the oppositions of Mars-, this year and in 1924, because Mars: will be better placed for observation: in the Southern than in the Northern Hemisphere, and not for another 100* years will the opportunity be so favourable.