Amateur astronomer Andrew A. Common built the Crossley Reflector in Great Britain in 1879, around the time that the Great Lick Refractor was built. The Great Refractor was one of the last large refractors built, and the Crossley was one of the first...
show moreAmateur astronomer Andrew A. Common built the Crossley Reflector in Great Britain in 1879, around the time that the Great Lick Refractor was built. The Great Refractor was one of the last large refractors built, and the Crossley was one of the first large reflectors built. Large reflectors became practical after 1880, when a new technology for making concave, silver-coated glass mirrors was perfected. Prior to this, such mirrors required constant polishing to remain reflective.
With his reflector, A.A. Common was the first to discover that stars too faint to be seen through a telescope with the eye could be imaged in photographs taken through the telescope using a long exposure time. This discovery is the basis for all modern astrophotography and spectroscopy. For these early astronomical photographs, Common was awarded the Royal Astronomical Society gold medal for Astronomy.
After deciding to build a larger telescope, Common sold the 36-inch reflector to Edward Crossley in 1885. Crossley built a new dome enclosure to protect the telescope and observers from the harsh Halifax (UK) weather, but this climate was far from ideal for observation. After about 10 years, Crossley donated both telescope and dome to Lick Observatory, where it was put into operation in 1896.
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