Abstract
THE last number of the Comptes Rendus of the Paris Academy of Sciences contains a memoir by Admiral Mouchez, urging the necessity of removing to a separate establishment beyond the city the chief departments of the Paris Observatory. When the building was originally erected by Perrault about a mile to the south of the Luxembourg, the city scarcely reached beyond that point. But since then it has spread in every direction, completely surrounding the Observatory with lofty edifices, and charging the atmosphere with all sorts of gases, smoke, and other impurities. These altered conditions are all the more injurious that, thanks to the progress of astronomical studies, the power and accuracy of the instruments have to be continually increased, while a clear and still atmosphere is more than ever needed for taking observations. The vicinity of the Catacombs and of busy streets has also rendered the ground less firm than formerly.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
A New Observatory for Paris . Nature 29, 374 (1884). https://doi.org/10.1038/029374a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/029374a0