1985 Dunsink Observatory bicentenary
(Éire)
Dunsink Observatory, buit in 1783–85
on a hill 8 km northwest of Dublin city centre, prides itself
on being the oldest scientific institution in Ireland. Its
bicentenary in 1985 was celebrated by the issue of this stamp
showing the Observatory building underneath a stylized starry
sky. The dome holds a 12-inch (30-mm) refractor installed in
1868, which replaced the original instrumentation by the London
firm of Jesse Ramsden. The Dunsink refractor has a French lens
by Cauchoix, donated to Trinity College Dublin by Sir James
South in 1863, on a mounting by the master telescope maker
Thomas Grubb of Dublin. This historic telescope was restored in
1988.
Dunsink Observatory now houses the
astronomy section of the School of Cosmic Physics in the Dublin
Institute for Advanced Studies.
Stanley Gibbons no. 605