page_title: Aldershot Observatory
section_title: Use
hierarchical_section_title: Aldershot Observatory / Use
caption_attribution_description: The telescope at the Aldershot obsevatory. An 8-inch refractor constructed in 1891 by Grubb.
context_page_description: Aldershot observatory is a circular red-brick building with a domed roof standing on Queens Avenue in Aldershot Military Town near Aldershot, England, home to the British Army since circa 1854. Inside is an 8-inch refracting telescope on a German-type equatorial mount with a clockwork drive which will run for about 2 hours without rewinding, this has a facility to vary the drive rate. The telescope and observatory building were a gift from aviation pioneer Patrick Young Alexander to the British Army, a fact which is recorded by a plaque near the observatory door. It reads: ‘Presented to the Aldershot Army Corps by Patrick Y Alexander Esq 1906’.
context_section_description: Just what use the British Army made of their new telescope is a bit of a mystery. It was, apparently, used in the training of officers in astronavigation. The telescope may also have been employed in monitoring experimental flights from HM Balloon Factory established at nearby Farnborough in 1908 (later to become the Royal Aircraft Establishment).
  Over the last 100 years, many local amateur and professional astronomers have made use of the telescope.
  Before the second World War, observations of variable and double stars were carried out, often by local members of the British Astronomical Association. Most of the users particularly remember the telescope's fine performance on lunar and planetary detail. In early August 1933, local amateur astronomer Mr John Pettley observed the famous Great White Spot on Saturn on the same night that it was discovered by Will Hay and later observations of the white spot by Pettley appeared in several issues of the "English Mechanic" during September 1933.
  Since the end of the Second World War, use of the observatory has continued on an ad hoc basis. The army permitted the telescope to be used by interested amateurs provided only that they could demonstrate competence with the instrument; they were allowed to draw a key from a nearby guardroom and use the telescope as they wished. A story now often repeated, is the recollection of a user who remembers that military regulations imposed at one time gave some difficulty: the key would be issued only between the hours of 9am and 5pm — the observatory had to be securely locked by 5:30 and the key returned!
  In 1979 the observatory was closed because of corrosion of the dome and defects in the dome traverse gear. Trees were allowed to grow up around the building and the observatory was neglected. At some point the observatory was broken into by thieves who stole the sighting telescope, a modern replacement has since been installed.
  In 1998 the observatory was rediscovered by a local amateur astronomer. Work started on cleaning the interior which was by then covered in dust, dirt and leaves. The telescope itself was in working condition, in 1999 the Army gave permission for the removal of the lens cell for refurbishment. By April 2000, the lens cell was replaced and the telescope fully restored and the larger of the surrounding trees had been removed. On 6 May 2000, the Aldershot Observatory was opened to the public for the first time ever, the event stimulating considerable local public interest in its future.
caption: Telescope in the Aldershot observatory.
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