Armagh Observatory

Armagh Observatory stands in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland, beside the Armagh Planetarium. It sits on 14 acres of landscaped grounds called the Armagh Astropark. The site was founded in 1789 by the Archbishop of Armagh. Around twenty-five astronomers work there today, studying stars, the Sun, the Solar System and Earth’s climate. The observatory holds 224 years of unbroken weather records, stretching back to 1794. The observatory has played a leading part in astronomy for more than two centuries. Ernst Öpik worked there for over thirty years and warned about the danger of asteroid impacts. Thomas Romney Robinson, a former director, invented the cup anemometer to measure wind speed. The observatory’s historic instruments include a Troughton Equatorial Telescope from 1795 and an Earnshaw Regulator clock. Visitors can also see the Human Orrery, a scale model of the Solar System opened in 2004. Inside the grounds are scale models, sundials, telescope domes and outdoor exhibits. The specialist library and archives contain scientific instruments and early astronomical records. Nearby meridian marks once guided the observatory’s transit instruments. Two wide-angle meteor cameras were added in 2005. The site forms part of the Irish Historic Astronomical Observatories group, now on the World Heritage Tentative List.