92
6 Laboratory and Statistical Astronomy
Laboratory at Groningen, in which the results of the astronomical work in
Groningen were published. Apparently there was a backlog to make up for,
because in the first year no less than eight parts appeared. After he was appointed
member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in
1888, he also published regularly in the minutes of its meetings. Kapteyn
was a very active and loyal KNAW member, who almost always attended the
meetings. These took place on Saturdays (in Amsterdam) and were followed
by an informal dinner, after which he still had to make the return trip to
Groningen. In the meantime, after using different temporary buildings, he
had finally gotten his own laboratory.
6.1 The Astronomical Laboratory
When Kapteyn started measuring the photographic plates for the CPD, he
was allowed the use of two rooms in the Physiological Laboratory of his friend
Dirk Huizinga to set up his measuring equipment. This was located diagonally
behind the Academy Building. A large part of the measurements were done
here and he also put up there his second parallactic instrument, which the Carte
du Ciel had asked him to build as a prototype. That was not an ideal solution
at all. Despite the limited space, Kapteyn already referred to his work-space as
the ‘Astronomical Laboratory’.
In 1881, he had submitted a detailed plan for his own observatory, but
that came to naught. He had even identified a location to the south of the
city of Groningen (on the site of the current Tax Administration offices at
the Kemkersberg), from where there was an unobstructed view of the southern
sky; one looked in that direction towards the training grounds belonging to the
barracks located there (the current Sterrenbos and Dr. S. van Mesdag Forensic
Psychiatric Center). A design had already been made for the building. In 1890
he adapted the plan and presented a new design, somewhat more modest in
size, to house a photographic telescope. Not long after that, during academic
year 1890–1891, it was his turn to become Rector Magnificus. In his scientific
lecture on the occasion of the transfer of the rectorate at the end of his tenure,
entitled The importance of photography for the study of the higher parts of the
heavens 1 , he elaborated extensively on the importance of photographic studies
in astronomy and the fact that there was no photographic telescope in the
Netherlands. By the ‘higher parts of the heavens’ he meant that part which was
not around the ecliptic; after all, most objects in the Solar System (certainly
the planets and most of the asteroids) were limited in their positions in the
1 De beteekenis der photographie voor de studie van de hoogere delen des hemels.
6 Laboratory and Statistical Astronomy
Laboratory at Groningen, in which the results of the astronomical work in
Groningen were published. Apparently there was a backlog to make up for,
because in the first year no less than eight parts appeared. After he was appointed
member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) in
1888, he also published regularly in the minutes of its meetings. Kapteyn
was a very active and loyal KNAW member, who almost always attended the
meetings. These took place on Saturdays (in Amsterdam) and were followed
by an informal dinner, after which he still had to make the return trip to
Groningen. In the meantime, after using different temporary buildings, he
had finally gotten his own laboratory.
6.1 The Astronomical Laboratory
When Kapteyn started measuring the photographic plates for the CPD, he
was allowed the use of two rooms in the Physiological Laboratory of his friend
Dirk Huizinga to set up his measuring equipment. This was located diagonally
behind the Academy Building. A large part of the measurements were done
here and he also put up there his second parallactic instrument, which the Carte
du Ciel had asked him to build as a prototype. That was not an ideal solution
at all. Despite the limited space, Kapteyn already referred to his work-space as
the ‘Astronomical Laboratory’.
In 1881, he had submitted a detailed plan for his own observatory, but
that came to naught. He had even identified a location to the south of the
city of Groningen (on the site of the current Tax Administration offices at
the Kemkersberg), from where there was an unobstructed view of the southern
sky; one looked in that direction towards the training grounds belonging to the
barracks located there (the current Sterrenbos and Dr. S. van Mesdag Forensic
Psychiatric Center). A design had already been made for the building. In 1890
he adapted the plan and presented a new design, somewhat more modest in
size, to house a photographic telescope. Not long after that, during academic
year 1890–1891, it was his turn to become Rector Magnificus. In his scientific
lecture on the occasion of the transfer of the rectorate at the end of his tenure,
entitled The importance of photography for the study of the higher parts of the
heavens 1 , he elaborated extensively on the importance of photographic studies
in astronomy and the fact that there was no photographic telescope in the
Netherlands. By the ‘higher parts of the heavens’ he meant that part which was
not around the ecliptic; after all, most objects in the Solar System (certainly
the planets and most of the asteroids) were limited in their positions in the
1 De beteekenis der photographie voor de studie van de hoogere delen des hemels.