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This item from Jordan Ragdale appeared on the ATS forum. Anyone interested in Peltier, then this item brings him to “life”
Denis BuczynskiHello everyone, I found some old film footage of Leslie Peltier in an online film archive. I requested the high resolution original files from the archive and then worked on them to clean them up a little. I also worked with a professional lip reader to add some subtitles to the speaking park. It’s still not quite right, but I’m working on getting that transcribed more accurately using some AI lip readers. But you’ll get the general message of what he was saying. There’s a clip from 1936 showing the Cow Pasture Observatory in operation then one in 1942 showing the Merry-Go-Round Observatory prior to relocation to his final home in Delphos; Brookhaven.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/JBaJ40jhooM
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What a superb video! Thanks Denis.
It’s remarkably close to what my mind’s eye had conjured up – a tribute to Peltier’s magnificent prose and the drawings that accompany the chapters in Skylight Nights. What surprised me most was how close was the merry go round obsy to the house. I think it was further away at Brookhaven.Thank you for posting that video Denis. I’ve never seen an observatory like that before, it gives me all sorts of ideas!
I must put Peltier’s Skylight Nights on my list of things to read, as rather embarrassingly I never have.Peter
Wonderful. Many thanks Denis.
I’m sure John Bortle used an observatory similar to the ‘merry-go-round’ observatory.
Gary
That’s a great video. The Merry-go-round observatory must have been a pleasure to use.
Starlight Nights is one of my favourite books. It book evokes the sense of an era long past and Peltier’s love for astronomy comes out of every page. Astronomy and the world were both very different then.
Many thanks for the link Denis. What a wonderful find!
Like many others I’ve owned Starlight Nights for decades and re-read it many times.
Seeing this is like hitching a ride in a time machine and going back to visit Peltier in person.Martin
The Merry-go-round observatory put me in mind of “A PRACTICAL HEATED OBSERVATORY BY E. G. HILL” in the 1962 JBAA V72,3 p102. A similar idea based on a newtonian reflector. No video though. It might have appeared on the Sky at Night as the report predates my membership but I have strong memory of it.
Roy.
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