Liverpool Astronomical Society

Liverpool Astronomical Society
AbbreviationLAS
Formation1881
Legal statusSociety
Purposestudy of celestial objects
Location
Official language
English
President
Mr S.Southern
Main organ
(gral. assembly, board of directors, etc)
WebsiteLiverpool Astronomical Society

The Liverpool Astronomical Society was founded in 1881 in Liverpool, England, as a society to promote and coordinate amateur astronomy.

In 1893 the Society was gifted a 5" (125mm) aperture Cooke equatorial telescope and a 2” (50mm) transit telescope by Thomas Rylands.[1][2] An observatory was built for it on the roof of the William Brown building in central Liverpool. However from around 1899 the society ceased activities, only for it to be revived in July 1901.[3][4] Four Liverpool Astronomical Society Members joined the British Astronomical Association expedition to observe the total solar eclipse of 30 August 1905.[5] A second period of inactivity occurred during and after the First World War from 1914 until 1922.[6] The Cooke telescope is still owned by the society, but is currently unused.

The Society’s current observatory, known as the Leighton Observatory, is at Pex Hill, Cronton, Merseyside outside Liverpool. It was formerly known as Pex Hill Observatory and Visitors' Centre.

  1. ^ culturewa (31 July 2019). "Thomas Glazebrook Rylands and Astronomy". Warrington Museum and Art Gallery. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  2. ^ "1901MNRAS..61R.188. Page 1:188". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  3. ^ "1902JBAA...13...38. Page 38". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  4. ^ "1902JBAA...12..141. Page 141". articles.adsabs.harvard.edu. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  5. ^ British Astronomical Association; Levander, Frederick William (1906). The total solar eclipse 1905 : Reports of observations made by members of the British Astronomical Association of the total solar eclipse of 1905, August 30. University of California Libraries. London : British Astronomical Association.
  6. ^ "The History of Liverpool Astronomical Society". Liverpool Astronomical Society. 30 May 1998. Retrieved 30 September 2020.