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| THE GREAT ROSSE TELESCOPE, BIRR CASTLE, KINGS COUNTY. -William Parsons, the third Earl of Rosse, although born in the city of York, England, was the son and heir of that sterling Irish patriot, Sir Lawrence Parsons, who so vehemently opposed the "Union" of Ireland and Great Britian in 1800. He was, in fact, one of the most noted leaders of the Patriot Party in the Irish House of Commons. The great telescope shown in the picture was constructed by Lord Rosse, who, from early manhood, had devoted himself to astronomy, in 1839, and has been in constant use since 1848. It weighs twelve tons and cost 30,000-equivalent to $150,000. The machinery is so perfect that the immense mass can be turned to any desired point in the firmament almost as readily as an ordinary telescope. The noble scientist conquered one of the greatest difficulties met with by his predecessors, the cracking and warping of the surface of the glass by too sudden cooling off. He also migrated what astronomers call "spherical aberration" and absorption of light by specula. His telescope made clear the fact that some of the bodies classed as nebalae by Herschel are, in reality, groups of developed stars. Few instruments possess greater optical power than the Rosse telescope, which stands in the beautiful grounds of Birr Castle, at Parsonstown. The highly gifted Earl died in 1867 in the 68th year of his age. |
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