Bult - University of the Free State

Nuus News
Boyden central to astronomy-year celebrations
By Willem van der Berg
No matter what your belief of how it got there, the starlit skies
at night fascinate us all. The fact that there is no end to it,
boggle our minds. The specs and measurements are just too
supernatural for the mere human to understand.
This year we have the chance to give a big up to all
the shiny dots in the night skies and to all the people
investigating them. It’s offi cially the Year of Astronomy.
Our university plays a big part in the celebrations.Not
everyone knows it, but the Boyden Observatory outside
Bloemfontein was handed over to us in 1976. This
observatory’s history stretches back to 1889 and to the
mountains of Peru.
In 1879 a mechanical engineer named Uriah A. Boyden
left in his will a sum of $238 000 for the expressed
purpose of carrying out astronomical research at high
altitude. Harvard College Observatory (HCO) eventually
(1889) found a suitable site, 8 km from the small town
of Chosica, near Lima, Peru. It was on a hill, which was
later named as Mount Harvard, with good weather and
a clean dry atmosphere. The new observatory, the fi rst
Boyden Station, was established there. It was later on
moved to Arequipa, also in Peru, because of unstable
weather patterns.
South Africa’s excellent climatic conditions were fairly
well known and in 1908 a team was sent by the HCO
to South Africa to investigate a possible third site for
the Boyden Station. They travelled from Cape Town via
Worcester to Hanover in the Karoo, and expeditions
were also sent to Kimberley, Bloemfontein and even to
Salisbury (now Harare). Taking all considerations into
account, Bloemfontein was the more preferable site. In
1923 the order was given for the station at Arequipa to
be moved to the new site on a koppie, 24 km north-east
of Bloemfontein, and overlooking Maselspoort.
And then in 1976, Harvard University handed the
Boyden Station over to our university and it became the
Boyden Observatory. Facilities of our university were
now at the disposal of the observatory.
The older Department of Physics and later Department
of Physics and Astronomy of our university played a big
role in making the Boyden Observatory a world-known
facility and exposing the public and school groups to
the world of astronomy.
In celebrating astronomy this year and also the 120th
anniversary of Boyden Observatory, our Department of
Physics and astronomy has a full programme to carry
out their responsibility to share the universe with the
public.
The Boyden Observatory anniversary is planned for
8 May 2009. Boyden Observatory will also have a
special astronomy exhibit at the Grahamstown Science
Festival that will be visited by thousands of people. Two
workshops per day aimed at Grade 10-12 learners will
be presented.
In April the Boyden Observatory contributed to
the International Year of Astronomy 100 Hours of
The Boyden Observatory outside Bloemfontein.
Astronomy project. Celebrations will also form part of
the annual Volksblad Arts Festival in July. For the third
term of 2009 school groups will visit to Boyden.
Let’s celebrate the twinkle of the stars!
26 Bult 27
Photos: Maurits van Wyk