R.L. Waterfield’s observatory

Headley, Surrey

Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 51(4), 138, May 1941

Since its beginning the writer’s observatory has formed but a part of the Rev T.E.R. Phillips’ observatory at Headley in Surrey. Though the following is primarily a description of the writer’s equipment and work, it will be necessary to say something of the observatory as a whole; but a more detailed account of the major equipment and of the work done with it will be contributed to a future number of the Journal by Mr Phillips. Mr Phillips’ observatory started at Yeovil in 1895, and was transferred to Croydon in 1901 and to Ashstead in 1906. It was moved to its present site at Headley in 1916. In 1930 the writer returned from the United States and came to live in Headley and to work at the observatory. The equipment then consisted of the 8-inch Cooke refractor in one dome, the 18-inch With reflector in a second dome, a sidereal clock by Lupton and a small transit instrument, and the meteorological apparatus. Shortly afterwards the writer erected in a third building the 6-inch Cooke refractor bequeathed to him by the late Mr John Player of Cheltenham, a member of our Association. The bequest included a 3-inch transit instrument and sidereal clock, both by Cooke. The former was mounted on the pier which previously carried the small transit, while the latter and the Lupton clock were set up in the cellar of the rectory and connected with electric dials in the observatory buildings. The Lupton clock had previously stood on a heavy concrete pier in one of the domes, and a similar mounting had been tried over a few weeks for the Cooke clock. The much more stable foundation afforded by the cellar resulted in a dramatic improvement in the rates of both clocks. In February 1932 a 6-inch f/4 photographic triplet (similar in type to the Franklin-Adams lens) was ordered from Messrs Cooke, Troughton and Simms, to be mounted on the Player refractor, and was delivered in September of the same year. Tests showed that the lens did not quite come up to the required standard; and it was returned to the makers, who, after fitting a new front component, redelivered it in the following January. It was then found to be of superlative quality, minute star-images, large covering-power, and great speed. It was found to be even faster, on extended objects, than an f/3 Aldis lens of 8-inch focus which was shortly afterwards fixed upon the same mounting. In 1933 Professor R.W. Wood, of Johns Hopkins University, presented us with a gelatine replica grating, 5 x 4-inch, which he had made and mounted between optical flats, and which threw about 80% of the light into one of the first-order spectra. In 1939 Professor Wood replaced the replica by an even brighter one, which is in use at the present time and can be fitted in front of the 6-inch triplet. In addition there is at the observatory a certain amount of eclipse apparatus: a 6-inch Cooke visual objective of 12-foot focus (used as a coronagraph with a correcting filter); an 8-inch coelostat mirror by Alvan Clark; and a 4-inch Rowland grating; as well as a number of short-focus photographic lenses. There is also a theodolite on loan from the Association. The writer’s work has been mainly concerned with the observation of the planet Mars, the photography of comets and of extended nebulae and star-clouds, and the observation of solar and lunar eclipses. The first apparition of Mars observed by the writer at Headley was that of 1926. That of 1928 he observed at the Johns Hopkins University Observatory. The apparitions since then have all been observed at Headley with the exception of that of 1937, when the writer was sick. Since 1930 the instruments used for these observations were the 8-inch refractor and 18-inch reflector, the two instruments generally being used together, one by Mr Phillips and one by the writer. With the 6-inch triplet many excellent photographs have been obtained of the galactic clouds and of the extended nebulae. The lens has also been used for cometary photography: for searching, for position determinations, and for the study of the internal motions of the brighter objects. On the best nights the lens will show clearly 17.0 magnitude stars with an exposure of 2 hours. The new grating had just been tested and found excellent when the war temporarily put a stop to the writer’s work. The following total solar eclipse expeditions were undertaken: 1927, Giggleswick (clear); 1929, Philippines (clear); 1930, California (through thin cloud); 1932, New Hampshire (cloudy); 1936, Chios (clear). The colour and structure of the middle and outer corona was the main problem tackled. During the two total lunar eclipses of 1932 and 1938, photographic determinations were made at Headley of the brightness of the totally eclipsed Moon in different coloured lights. In January of this year Mr Phillips retired from the rectory. Fortunately, however, this will make little difference to the observatory; for Mr Phillips is continuing to live very close by, and arrangements have been made to rent the observatory field, and to carry on the observatory on the same site.