Pic du Midi Observatory

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Pic du Midi Observatory

a French scientific institution located in the Pyrenees near the summit of the Pic du Midi. Founded in 1881 as a meteorological observatory, it became affiliated with the University of Toulouse in 1903. Its chief instruments are 38-cm twin and 60-cm refracting telescopes, 102-cm and 200-cm (under construction) reflecting telescopes, and 20-cm twin and 26-cm coronagraphs. Its areas of research include the photographing of the planets, the moon, and binary stars with high—up to 0.2”—angular resolution and of the surface of the sun with resolution up to 0.3”, observations of the solar corona outside of eclipses, the construction of astronomical instruments, and atmospheric optics.

References in periodicals archive ?

Caption: Saturn's rings were tilted 26.5[degrees] from our line of sight when Damian Peach captured this image with the 106-cm f/17 Cassegrain at Pic du Midi Observatory on June 11, 2017.

Saturn Stands (Relatively) High

These representations of the albedo features recall some of the more detailed studies previously made at Pic du Midi Observatory. (1) Seeing quality varied from day to day, and is reflected in the degree of detail shown.

Recent observations of Mercury

Using the high-sensitivity NARVAL spectropolarimeter installed at the Bernard-Lyot telescope at the Pic du Midi Observatory in France, a team of astronomers detected the effect of a magnetic field (known as the Zeeman effect) in the light emitted by Vega.

Astronomers obtain first detection of magnetic field on bright star Vega

Scientists at the world-renowned Pic du Midi observatory in the Pyrenees say light from surrounding cities is preventing them from getting a good look at the heavens.

Astronomers try to preserve night sky

The researchers used instruments on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop Hawaii's Manna Kea and the Bernard-Lyot Telescope at the Pic du Midi Observatory in France to record the polarization of light from the star and the magnetic splitting of spectral lines.

Stellar switch: sun not alone in making magnetic flip-flops

Brunier, an award-winning science journalist, and Lagrange, who is director of research at the French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), begin with a history of telescopes, followed by profiles of 36 land-based observatories, including the Pic du Midi Observatory in France, the Cerro Tololo Observatory in Chile, the Parkes Radio Observatory in Australia, and the Narayangaon Interferometer in India.

Great Observatories of the World

Damningly, a series of photographs taken that night through the 24-inch refractor at Pic du Midi Observatory in France failed to record anything out of the ordinary.

The enduring mystery of Luna 2: amateur observers claimed to see its impact--but no trace of the crash site has ever been found

(9) For a map based upon visual and photographic observations made at the Pic du Midi observatory during 1942-'44 on the basis of the 88-day period, see G.

The 'libration zones' of Mercury: the last stand

17 at the Pic du Midi Observatory in Bagneres-de-Bigorre, France, showed them close together but distinct.

Images reveal stormy collision on Jupiter

French astronomer Pierre Guerin recorded Saturn in 1969 through the 1.07-meter (42-inch) reflector at Pic du Midi Observatory. His negatives appeared to show a faint, diffuse glow that extended outward from the planet's cloud tops and was separated from the inner edge of ring C by a distinct gap.

Saturn's elusive D ring: photos and sketches show this ultra-faint band--but we were fooled

The same features have been seen by professionals at Meudon Observatory, Pic du Midi Observatory etc.