Every month I write a local heritage-themed column, on behalf of The Treasury, for the
Grahamstown Gazette. Here's my piece for the June edition.
From the Treasury:
From the Treasury:
The night sky seems like an odd place to catch a
glimpse our local history; few astronomical objects can claim to have a Thames
connection. However, if you’re lucky, you might see the comet first glimpsed by
one of Thames’ pioneers. For Mr John Grigg of the Thames Observatory,
discovering new comets was only one of many astronomical discoveries he made
around the turn of last century.
Mr Grigg was a prominent figure in the Thames township
right from its inception. In 1868, he moved to Thames from Auckland, following
the death of his first wife. Setting up a music shop and upholstery business on
the gold fields, he was heavily involved in establishing both the Thames Choral
Society and the Thames Baptist Church. He was a keen composer, and the author
of the popular unofficial New Zealand anthem ‘My Own New Zealand Home’ – the
song hundreds of Thames children sang to Governor George Grey in 1879, to mark
the beginning of work on the Grahamstown Railway.
His true passion, however, was astronomy. He’d spent
time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich as a teenager, and after bad weather
made him miss the Transit of Venus in 1874, he bought his own telescope and set
up a small observatory in his back yard to prepare for the next transit in 1882.
Mr Grigg’s scientific pursuits caused quite a stir,
both locally and nationally. The Thames Advertiser published a lengthy
description of his observatory in 1885, describing in detail his upmarket
telescope and revolving roof; presumably to the delight of his nosy neighbours
and shop customers. In 1892, the New Zealand Herald came to visit, writing a
similarly long piece on their guided tour of the night sky. ‘A chill came over
us!’ wrote the Herald. ‘Where are we now? On the boundary of the visible
universe! Chaos around us, chaos within us!’
By 1894, he’d quit his day job to build a bigger
observatory and pursue his hobby full time. Mr Grigg became a popular newspaper
columnist and guest speaker across the country, lecturing regularly on
‘Practical Astronomy’ and helping to popularise astronomy as a hobby. His
lectures often included photos of moons, sunspots and comets taken with his own
home-made equipment. A photo he took of a passing comet in 1901 was later found
to be the only image of this particular comet in existence, and was used as
part of the Royal Astronomical Society’s official records.
Mr Grigg’s greatest triumphs, however, were
discovering two new comets of his own. He started systematically searching of
the night skies for comets in 1887, but it wasn’t until 1902 he discovered his
first new comet. This was quickly
followed by a second in 1903. He received two Donohoe medals from the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific to honour his discoveries, and was elected
a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1906.
Mr Grigg passed away in 1920. His first discovery, Comet
1902 II P/Grigg–Skjellerup, should next be visible our night skies in 2018.
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