Orwell Astronomical Society (Ipswich)

Edward Howard Collinson, FRAS (1903-90)

Edward Howard Collinson was born in Ipswich on 15 November 1903. Together with his brothers Hugh and Norman, he was educated first at Ackworth School in Pontefract, Yorkshire, and then at Bootham School in York. (Both were Quaker establishments.) By the age of 10, he had developed a fledgling interest in astronomy which grew into a life-long passion. Indeed, his carefully kept astronomical notebooks date back to 1914, when he made full use of small refractors at Ackworth School. In June 1918, he recorded observations of Nova V603 Aquilae just three days after its discovery. By the time he observed the nova it had brightened from an initial magnitude 5.8 to a spectacular -1.1, and he went on to record the evolution of its colour and magnitude over a period of months.

In October 1920, he was proposed for membership of the BAA by two notable Suffolk astronomers, J P M Prentice and A G Cook [1] and, on 24 November 1920, he was elected a member of the Association [2]. He was an active member of the BAA throughout his life, contributing observations to the Meteor, Aurora, Comet, Lunar, Variable Star, Mars and Jupiter Sections. His observations are first mentioned in the archives of the BAA in a report of an Exhibition Meeting of the Association on 30 March 1921 [3] at which his notebooks were on display along with those of fellow pupils at Bootham School.

On 04 August 1921, he became a founder member of the Ipswich Section of the Chaldaean Society [4], remaining a member until the Section closed in 1924. (The aim of the Society was to popularise and undertake astronomical observing.)

On leaving school and returning to his home at 64 Westerfield Road, Ipswich, he served articles in a local legal practice, qualifying as a solicitor in 1927 [5]. He rose to become senior partner in the Ipswich and Felixstowe practice nowadays known as Blocks Solicitors. He also served with distinction on various local legal administrative panels and charities.

He observed the solar eclipse of 08 April 1921 [6] from Ipswich, where he took temperature measurements and "actinometric observations" (the time taken to darken a light-sensitive paper to a standard tint). An insert in The Chaldaean for Autumn 1921 [7] reported his actinometric timings, illustrated in figure 1. Note that the times of first contact, greatest eclipse and fourth contact were respectively 07:36 UT, 08:48 UT and 10:06 UT.
 

Figure 1. Actinometric timings for solar eclipse of 08 April 1921.

On 08 November 1922, he photographed Baade's Comet (C/1922 U1 Baade) using a camera of aperture 3 cm, focal length 15 cm and, on the 18^th of the month, he observed it visually [8]. This was the first of many cometary observations that he reported to the BAA.

During the 1920s, he acquired a 75 mm Watson-Conrady refractor which he used, mounted on a cast iron pier, in the back garden of his home. In the 1920s, some astronomers gave credence to the idea (seemingly outlandish to modern-day astronomers [9]) proposed by Professor W H Pickering, of "lunar vegetation". The idea aroused Collinson's interest and he published a series of drawings, made with the 75 mm refractor at magnification 160x, of supposed changing markings inside the crater Eratosthenes [10] during the period 1922-23. However, he was clearly sceptical about Pickering's notion, writing I make no attempt in this paper to explain the nature of the changes...

He used the 75 mm refractor with a deep yellow filter to observe the final stages of the transit of Mercury of 08‑09 May 1924 [11]. (The event was witnessed also by two other observers in Suffolk, Arthur F Bennett and Basil J W Brown. From Suffolk, the Sun and planet did not rise until near the end of the transit so only the final stages of the event were visible). He commented on the darkness of the silhouette of the planet in comparison with sunspots, and the lack of definition of its limb. He observed the "black drop" effect and, as a result, his estimates of contact times were uncertain.

Collinson developed a lasting interest in photography. Starting in 1923, he undertook a project to photograph the northern Milky Way as a sequence of wide-angle images. He finally produced eight 26°x26° images, each from an exposure of 50 minutes duration [12, 13]. The images were taken using an Aldis anastigmat 15 cm F/3 lens on a clockwork-powered, belt-driven portable equatorial mount similar to that shown in figure 2 [14]. Figure 3 [15] shows Collinson's camera. He used an alarm clock to provide RA drive power, and found that a leather bootlace worked admirably as drive belt! Close examination of figure 3 reveals a knotted drive string that does, indeed, resemble a leather bootlace.

In 1924, Collinson visited a friend in Brighton and used the latter's 25 cm reflector to view the planet Mars at opposition (the closest opposition of the 20^th century). The observation aroused in Collinson a passion for observing the planet and, using his friend's reflector, he produced several drawings which he submitted to the Mars Section of the BAA, the first of a great many in subsequent years.

Collinson's main area of interest, that in which he, arguably, made the largest contribution to astronomy, was meteors. Starting in the 1920s, he undertook both visual and photographic observations of the objects, collaborating with the leading meteor observers of the day, Prentice, H H Waters from Harrow, G E D Alcock from Peterborough and A King from Ashby, Scunthorpe. A paper by Waters in 1925 [16] described early photographic work by members of the BAA. Collinson appears to have begun meteor photography with the 1924 Perseids, using the camera that he used to photograph the Milky Way, and captured two first magnitude meteors on the same plate on the night of 10‑11 August. Subsequently, he showed considerable ingenuity in developing the camera, keeping the BAA appraised of his work [17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24]. He experimented with alternative lenses, replaced the alarm clock RA drive with a motor from a gramophone and devised and constructed a plate-changing mechanism to enable the camera to capture up to six images during an observing session without manual intervention. The plate-changing mechanism was powered by a clockwork motor and relied greatly on Meccano in its construction: see figures 4 and 5 (from [19]). The camera produced images covering a field of 40°x30°. Prentice constructed and operated a similar camera, enabling triangulation of meteor trails along the 16 km baseline between the two observers. By the late-1930s, Collinson had replaced the clockwork motor with a weight-drive and, thanks to a grant from the RAS, had adopted a Ross wide-angle Xpres lens, 12 cm FL, F/4, originally produced for aerial survey work.

On the night of 21-22 April 1928, Collinson photographed a bright meteor which was also observed visually by an observer in Scunthorpe, enabling A King to calculate the track of the object [25]. On 19 September 1930, Collinson's camera recorded a meteor which was observed visually by Prentice; again King calculated the track of the object [26].

In 1930, Collinson obtained permission from the Pretyman family to use the 26 cm refractor at Orwell Park. Over a five year period, he used the instrument to make numerous drawings of the planet Mars and a few of Jupiter. The first mention in JBAA of his observations of Mars was in 1931 [27] and the first appearance of his drawings of the planet in 1935 [28]. His drawings of Jupiter appeared in the BAA Jupiter Section Memoirs. Several of his drawings are reproduced below. Once familiar with the telescope, he normally preferred to stop down the aperture from 26 cm to 20 cm. He considered that he undertook his best planetary work at Orwell Park and much later he later fondly recalled his time there, writing in December 1972:

I was given leave to use the telescope in 1930 and I continued to do so until 1935 when I acquired my own 10 inch reflector. In 1930 the telescope was in fair condition, all the controls and the driving clock were in working order but the dome had housed quantities of bees which had to be swept up and disposed of! The dome was apt to stick and I well remember perilous attempts to free the rails from ice by climbing out of the shutter onto the roof. The view, often in moonlight, was however delightful!

Two surviving images of Orwell Park Observatory associated with Collinson are of particular interest. One is a line drawing of the Tomline Refractor by Collinson's brother, Hugh, in February 1931. It clearly shows the gas illumination mantles on the declination circle. The other is a photograph of the telescope and equatorial room, taken by Collinson sometime between 1930 and 1935 - see figure 6. One may just discern in the photograph the sheen of the brass telescope tube which was painted over, for ease of maintenance, sometime around the late 1960s or early 1970s. Figure 7, approximately contemporaneous with the previous figure, shows Collinson using the Orwell Park Refractor.

Collinson ended his regular use of the instrument in 1935, when he obtained the long term loan of a 25 cm reflector from the BAA [29, 30, 31]. (The instrument had been donated to the Association by Mr A G Batley; it had a mirror by With-Browning and was set on a massive German equatorial mount). By this time Collinson had moved house to Felixstowe and he constructed an observatory in his back garden to house the instrument; it was formed from a 2 m x 2 m shed which could be rolled off on 6 m rails (see figure 8). Collinson reported that, on one occasion, the shed was blown off its rails in high wind!

During the early 1930s, Collinson corresponded regularly with many of the leading amateur and professional astronomers of the day. He was an active member of the BAA and, in 1935, was elected a Fellow of the RAS. He was known to Spencer Jones, tenth Astronomer Royal, who, when approached by the Orwell Park Estate office for advice on the prospects of disposing of the 26 cm refractor, wrote in response:

I believe that Mr E H Collinson has used this telescope on occasions and, if so, you may with advantage ask him for his opinion of this instrument.

In 1938, Collinson married Eileen Mabel Woodhead and the couple went on to have two children. But domestic life was soon to be interrupted by the Second World War, during which Collinson was engaged in relief work in London as a member of the Friends' War Victims Committee, and had little time for observing. When peace returned in 1945, the couple moved to The Ridge, Playford (6 km NE of Ipswich).

At Playford, Collinson resumed observations of Jupiter, sending reports to the BAA until the 1970s, being most active in the 1950s and 1960s. His later observations were included among Jupiter Section Reports. He made a few transit timings but recorded very little in the way of descriptive notes about the planet, preferring instead to draw it.

Collinson returned, after the war, to his passion for photographing meteors and did much to develop photographic equipment using the excellent reconnaissance lenses which became plentiful through military surplus outlets. He tried a new lens, a Kodak Aero Ektar F/2.5, 18 cm FL with coated surfaces, on the meteor camera for the 1948 Perseids. (Figure 9 shows the camera with the Ektar lens [32].) On 12 August 1948, the camera recorded a magnitude ‑6 fireball in Cassiopeia (see figure 10). D J Fulcher at Ipswich also obtained a photograph and Alcock and two others observed it visually, enabling Prentice to calculate the position of the radiant. Collinson commented that the new lens produced markedly better results than his pre-war equipment [33, 34]. The report of the Meteor Section for February 1949 [35] commented on the improved performance offered by newly-available lenses and announced the establishment of a photographic network for meteor observation. Collinson was appointed Secretary to the Section to assist with the programme of photography.

In 1950, Collinson outlined the state of the art in amateur meteor photography [36]. The availability of reasonably priced, high quality Government surplus lenses had transformed what amateurs could achieve. A rotating shutter (or "chopper") could be used to estimate meteor velocities, and Collinson had recently constructed one for use with one of his cameras. Later in the year, he exhibited photographs of meteors (and drawings of Mars) at a BAA exhibition meeting [37]. Some seven years later, he was reported [38] as operating three meteor cameras simultaneously for the purposes of comparing performance of different lenses and photographic plates/papers. A little later, at an ordinary general meeting of the BAA [39], he once more summarised the state of the art in amateur meteor photography. There are no later reports in JBAA of his photographic work on meteors.

In 1950, the Ipswich and District Astronomy Society (IDAS) formed. Collinson joined the Society and, in 1955, was elected President. (He was the second and last President as IDAS folded in 1957.) IDAS made occasional use of Orwell Park Observatory although, by this time, it was in a sorry state following mistreatment by the army during the war years.

Collinson was active in the running of the BAA. He had joined the Council of the BAA in 1927 and, in 1950 went on to become a Vice-President and, on 29 October 1952 [40], took the chair as President, holding the post for two years. (See figure 11 for his presidential portrait.) His presidential addresses were on The Planet Mars [41] and Astronomical Photography - Equipment And Methods For The Amateur [32]. As President, he organised a very successful joint BAA/RAS expedition to view the 1954 total solar eclipse in Sweden [42]. 1954 was also the year in which he moved house again, to Culpho End, Culpho (near Playford).

Immediately after his presidential term, he served on the Council of the RAS and the National Committee for Astronomy of the Royal Society. His meticulous observational work on Mars had done much to make his reputation and, upon the death of the BAA Mars Section Director in 1956, Collinson took up the post [43]. As Director, he publicised opportunities to observe Mars and analysed observations. He remained Director until 1979, his tenure lasting into the era of unmanned probes to Mars and spanning a period during which our knowledge of the planet changed profoundly. He ceased to be Director when the Section was controversially absorbed into a Terrestrial Planets Section; he then became a senior adviser to the latter [44].

Collinson contributed to observation and analysis of many astronomical phenomena in addition to those mentioned above, including the following:

• One area in which he undertook much work, particularly towards the end of his life, was variable stars. He appeared to be particularly interested in Z Camelopardalis, a highly irregular variable, contributing to the BAA observations and analysis of its behaviour [45, 46, 47, 48, 49].
• On the night of 17-18 October 1931, together with Prentice at Stowmarket, he observed an aurora [50].
• Prentice discovered Nova Herculis (DQ Herculis) on 12 December 1934. Collinson contributed naked eye observations to the BAA [51].
• He undertook a photographic search for comets, complementing visual observations by Alcock and others [52, 53].
• Intensity of surface features on Saturn.
• Lunar occultations.
• Minor planets.
• Lunar features.
• Aurorae.

In 1972, Collinson moved home to Fox's Corner, Snape. A year later he retired from his legal practice. While a practising solicitor, he had providing legal advice to the BAA on a variety of topics but, shortly after retiring, he indicated that he could no longer do so, as he could not guarantee to be up-to-date with his knowledge of the law [54].

When Eileen passed away in 1979, Collinson moved back to Playford, to a bungalow, The Copse, Church End. He set up a new observatory in his back garden for the long-serving BAA reflector. (Unfortunately, he missed the opportunity to observe the 1980 opposition of Mars as the telescope was not ready in time.) He joined OASI in the late 1970s, remaining a member until his death.

In his final years, Collinson made solar observations using the Watson-Conrady refractor, and worked on variable stars, making magnitude estimates with binoculars and collating and analysing observing reports. Figure 12 shows Collinson at home at Playford with the borrowed BAA reflector [55]; he ceased using it in 1984 and returned it to the Association. In May 1984 he contributed his last article to the OASI Newsletter. In 1986 the BAA awarded him its Steavenson Award for his work on variable star observations [56, 57] - his prize was the 1986 edition of Hoffmeister's Variable Stars. Unfortunately, Colinson was unable to travel to London to receive the Award, so Michael Maunder, a member of Council, travelled to his home to make the presentation [58]. In 1989, Collinson suffered a stroke and was effectively immobilised: this put an end to his observational work, but he maintained involvement with amateur astronomy via his many friends. At this time he generously donated his equipment and extensive collection of books to the BAA [59]. He passed away on 26 September 1990. To quote his obituary by Dr Richard McKim [60], the BAA lost a gentleman astronomer. So too, did OASI. In his memory, a framed copy of his BAA presidential portrait hangs on the wall of the spiral stairs at Orwell Park Observatory.

Acknowledgement

Dr Richard McKim (BAA Archivist and Director of the Mars Section) holds Collinson's photographs and observing logs. We are indebted to Richard for his considerable assistance in producing this article.

Mars Oppositions, 1931 And 1933

Jupiter

Some of Collinson's drawings of Jupiter:

• From the BAA Memoirs vol. 32: plate IV 1930 Mar 30; plate V 1931 Jan 01; plate VI 1931 Jan 20.
• From observing notebook: 1947 May 27.

Mention of Collinson in the OASI Newsletter

Collinson contributed three brief pieces to the OASI Newsletter. The Newsletter noted his award of the BAA Steavenson medal and, of course, his passing.

• February 1973: advice on using the Orwell Park Refractor to observe variable stars.
• October 1979: donation of siderial clock to OASI.
• May 1984: prospects for observing the opposition of Mars in 1984.
• December 1986: awarded BAA Steavenson medal.
• November 1990: obituary by Roy Adams.
• November 1990: obituary by Eric Sims.

References and Footnotes

James Appleton, Bill Barton, FRAS, Kenneth Goward, FRAS, Neil Morley

Original: Newsletters May 1984, November 1990, December 1999, February 2000
Updated: 26 March 2023