Observatory of Nice

The Observatoire of Nice is as its name indicates it located at Nice in France. It is placed on the Mont Large. The cost of construction was entirely dealt with by the banker and philanthropist Raphaël-Louis Bischoffsheim.

The Architect Charles Garnier designed the 15 buildings of origin. It carried out the base of the large cupola, the Engineer Gustave Eiffel carried out the cupola sheltering the principal glasses.

History

The first studies for the construction of the observatory began in 1878.

In 1988, the observatory of Nice amalgamated with the Research center in geodynamics and astrometry (CERGA) to form the Observatoire of the Riviera.

Principal instrument

The principal instrument of the Observatory of Nice is the Telescope of 76 cm. It was for the first operational time in 1888 and was, at the time, the largest glasses of the world. It was détrônée by the glasses of the Observatoire Lick, having a lens of a diameter of 91 centimetres.

Structure

The observatory, made out of stone of size of Turbie, is made of a square base whose four frontages, perfectly symmetrical, are identical and animated by the presence of four columns ionic S. the base of the building and a pyramid has plane half-compartment pointing out the form of a Egyptian Mastaba. Above this base is the circular wall which supports the cupola.

This one has an internal diameter of 22,4 meters and outside of 23,90 meters, and it weighs nearly 100 tons. The characteristic is that it rests on an annular float (of the water added with Chlorure of Magnésium which forms an unfreezable solution). Charles Garnier modified the project to allow a parallel system of rotation of the cupola, thanks to rollers rolling on rails. In the beginning the displacement of the cupola took place thanks to a simple hand winch, until in 1888 an electrical motor is installed. Since the restoration of the building in 1969, the cupola moves on a track.

See too

List of the largest glasses
List of the astronomical observatories

External bonds

Official site of the Observatory of the Riviera
Visits of the observatory of Nice
History of the Observatory

Reference

Mr. Fulconis, Raphael Bischoffsheim, the man who offered to France the largest observatory of the World, Éditions Glances of the World, 2003

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