Rocking-mirror Meteor Camera

Two rocking-mirror cameras were designed and constructed at the Observatory for the researches carried out by Dr. E.J. Öpik (see P. Moore, "Armagh Observatory 1790-1967", p.49/50). E.J. Öpik (right) demonstrating his `Rocking Camera' with which he was able to determine the speed of meteors as they passed through the Earth's atmosphere. He had a life-long interest in the smaller bodies of the Solar System, and on his eighty fifth birthday, in 1978, a new minor planet, Planet Öpik, was named after him. E.B. Armstrong, Senior Assistant, is on the left.

Last Revised: 2009 November 18th