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One of the most emblematic places of modern science will reopen for the first time since 1957.
The Royal Observatory of London closed its roof to astronomers more than half a century ago, after light pollution and high levels of smog made night sky observation almost impossible .
Following the closure of the iconic observatory, researchers have moved away from the UK's capital with the goal of finding a clearer sky.
However, the Royal Observatory, located in Greenwich, now hopes to put them back with the new state-of-the-art telescope.
The £ 50,000 ($ 66,000) Annie Maunder astronomical telescope, which pays tribute to a "forgotten giant" of astronomy, is designed to avoid the interference of London's many bulbs.
It has been installed in the Altazimuth Grade II listed lodge of the observatory, which has also been the object of a restoration.
The Royal Observatory has been operational for centuries, opened in 1675 by King Charles II to map the locations of the stars to improve navigation of the Navy.
However, the operation moved to a new base in 1957 in Herstmonceux, East Sussex.
Since the late 1950s, the Greenwich site has served as a public awareness and museum venue – with little astronomy due to heavy pollution.
Scientists will now return to the Royal Observatory after the completion of a three-year restoration project.
The £ 150,000 ($ 200,000) renovation was funded by grants, museum members and patrons, as well as donations from the public.
The main attraction for scientists returning to the observatory will be Amat.
He was named in honor of an accomplished – and tragically forgotten – scientist named Annie Maunder.
Annie Maunder worked on the site in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
As a woman working in the field, her work is often unrecognized, with her male counterparts receiving undue praise and recognition for her work.
Her husband, Walter, worked as his supervisor and the pair was married in 1895.
Unfortunately, because of a rule at the time prohibiting married women working in the public service, she was forced to resign from her career after the wedding day.
Maunder managed to continue working with her husband and became a member of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1916.
Despite being one of the best in his field, and often considered one of the "forgotten giants" of astronomy, his work has never gotten recognition. appropriate during his life.
Now, more than 70 years after her death, she will be posthumously honored with one of the country's most sophisticated astronomical facilities.
In the decades following the completion of scientific work at the observatory, the air of London has become cleaner and new technologies have been launched that allow telescopes to take pictures in conditions of reduced visibility says astronomer Brendan Owens.
"We can use what are called narrowband filters to get around light pollution, and there are also new processing techniques.
"We can take snapshots of very fast frame rates and use only the most stable shots to get the final result. This is what is called "lucky tempering imaging," Owens told BBC News.
Amat is called a single object, but is actually four separate instruments.
The largest is a 14-inch reflector that takes high-resolution images of objects in the solar system to the smallest detail.
A second is specifically designed to study the sun, while a third observes the wavelengths of different nebulae to distinguish the gases included in its makeup.
The final instrument is a general purpose telescope.
The public's money also helped complete the restoration work at Altazimuth Pavilion, which urgently needed to be repaired after being hit by a bomb during the blitz of World War II.
"It's a beautiful Victorian building that has suffered significant damage to the bomb. Half of the building was erased during the Second World War, "said Brendan Owens.
Although it has been fixed, the dome five meters (16 feet) wide is currently operated manually by a system of ropes and pulleys.
However, there are plans in place to automate this process.
"The automation work will be essential if we want to do more research projects," Owens said.
"It's either that or we have someone who is extremely dedicated with the ropes.
The first images broadcast by the telescope reveal the pot-shaped surface of the Moon and a violent activity on the surface of the sun.
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