Mount Holyoke College - Llamarada Yearbook (South Hadley, MA)

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THE OBSERVATORY ONSISTS of a tower with a dome eighteen feet in diameter, with two wings, one extending to the west and the other to the north. 111 the dome is mounted a fine eight4inch equatorial telescope by Clark, completely fitted out with clock-work, finding-clock, micrometers, spec- troscope, solar eye-piece, etc., and iso arranged that the circles can be read and the clamps and tangent screws worked from the eye-piece of the instrument. The object glass is almost entirely the work of the senior Alvan Clark, and is one of the most perfect specimens of his art. In the west wing is the transit-room in which is a meridian circle by Fauth 85 Co., Qnow Geo. N. Saegmullerj of Washingtoii. The instru- ment has a telescope of three inches aperture and circles of sixteen inches diameter reading to seconds by two microscopes. It has a revers- ing apparatus and is fitted with a latitude level so that it can be used' as a Zenith telescope. A large collimator is mounted on a pier south of it, and in a corner of the room isa clock with a Denison escapement, also by Fauth 8a Co., as is the chronograph which is mounted in a small adjoining room. There is also a sextant and artificial horizon and a set of meteorological apparatus. The north wing is divided by folding doors into two rooms, a study and a prime vertical room. There is no instrument in the latter, but it is provided with a pier and shutter so that, if it is desired, the meridian circle can be set up and used there. The room is now used with the study for recitations. The observatory with its equipment was presented to the college in 1881, by Mr. A. L. Williston of Northampton. The cost of the whole was ten thousand dollarsg the chief part of the expense was for the instruments, as a good equipment is more desirable than an expensive building. ELisA1su'r11 MII,I.l2li BARmvEl,i.. 19-

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able director. She delights in her delicate instruments almost as in personal friends, and any one who is allowed to handle them catches something of the same feeling. ' Miss Bardwell especially likes to tell the story of our equatorial. The object glass is one of the last and best of Alvan Clark's. The firm was honored with an order for a famous German observatory and took especial pains to make an instrument perfect in every way. After they had completed it with such great care, word was sent of a change of plan so that a smaller glass was wanted. Thus a piece of the most exact work that Mr. Clark ever did was thrown on the market at just the time we were ready to purchase. - Miss Bardwell frequently sets the telescope on some interesting celestial object and allows all who choose to come and look. This oppor- tunity, with Miss Bardwell's wise words of explanation and willing replies to questions, enables those not taking the course to become acquainted with the appearance of planets and their satellites, stars and nebulae. These advantages are appreciated by the students and the observatory is usually thronged while it is open to the public. Miss Bardwell is a member of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and of the British Astronomical Association. She has visited the most famous observatories and their directors, as the Washingtoiig Princeton, Lick, Berlin, and Potsdam Observatories. In the class room, her power is exceptional, she has rare ability and tact in making the student think for herself just as far as she is capable of doing so and then is ready with the right word of guidance. She has as various times written interesting and scholarly articles for the Astron- omy and Astro-Physics and for the Popular Astronomy. Miss Bardwell has a rare breadth of interest, she is exceedingly fond of music, art and poetry. By the depth of her Christian exper- ience, she has become a power in the lives of all who have known her. In many matters, she is rigid and inflexible, but she knows the love of God and is not prone to give more emphasis to his sternness than to his mercy. The new student is afraid of her, but soon learns to watch for the twinkle in her eye and to know her exceedingly kind heart. As an astronomer, a teacher, and a woman, Miss Bardwell richly deserves the honor and respect in which she is held by Mount Holyoke. C. F. K. 18

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