An astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland, founded in 1789 by Richard Robinson, Lord Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh in the Church of Ireland. It has kept an unbroken weather record recognized by the World Meteorological Organisation in 2018 spanning 224 years, its adjoining planetarium opened in 1968 under first director Patrick Moore, and in 2025 the observatory joined two other Irish sites on UNESCO's World Heritage Tentative List.
Facts
Observatory Typeastronomical research institute 1 LocationArmagh, Northern Ireland 1 Measuresstellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate 1 Classification
Observing Band FAQs
Why was a telescope linked to Armagh Observatory built in South Africa?
It gave Armagh astronomers access to the southern sky.
Armagh Observatory's history pages explain that the heavy concentration of telescopes in the northern hemisphere had left observational astronomy imbalanced, and that several of the most interesting astronomical objects, such as the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the nearest galaxies to our own, can only be seen from the southern hemisphere. This was one of the main reasons that Director Eric Lindsay chose South Africa as the location of the Armagh-Dunsink-Harvard telescope.
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Located In
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Sources
1. Wikipedia: Armagh Observatory
Lead paragraph (institution clause)
Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Lead paragraph (location clause)
Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
History section, founding clause
It was founded in 1789 by The Most Rev. and Rt Hon. The 1st Baron Rokeby
Lead paragraph, research clause
Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate.
Instruments section, 1795 refractor
A 2½ inch aperture refracting telescope by J & E Troughton was installed in a dome in 1795.
In Group: Optical Observatories of Europe, Lead sentence
Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland.
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