Quiet Air Research Articles

XXV. Astronomical experiment on the peak of teneriffe, carried out under the sanction of the lords commissioners of the admiralty

The principal object of the experiment on Teneriffe in the summer of 1856, was to ascertain how much astronomical observation can be benefited, by eliminating the lower third of fourth part of the atmosphere. That the amount of such improvement would be large and form a desirable boon to practical astronomy, appears to have been expected by Sir Isaac Newton; for him his 'Optics' he expressly says, "They (telescopes) cannot be so formed as to take away that confusion of rays which arises from the tremors of the atmosphere. The only remedy is a most serene and quiet air, such as may perhaps be found on the tops of the highest mountains above the grosser clouds." After having enjoyed some slight practical experience of the method so recommended, during the remeasurement of La Caille’s Southern Arc of the Meridian under Mr. Maclear, its further prosecution was brought prominently to my attention by the peculiar position of the Edinburgh Observatory. Accordingly, in November 1852, I had the honour of presenting to the Board of Visitors, under the Presidency of the Right Hon. Lord Rutherfurd, a scheme for realizing Newton’s idea through means of a summer expedition to the Peak of Teneriffe; where there appeared a hope that telescopes might be elevated more than 10,000 feet above the level of the sea, with greater facilities of every sort, than on any other known mountain. The same project was also brought before Section A. of the British Association, three years later.