Costa Lobo (1864-1945), the Coimbra Spectroheliograph and the Internationalisation of Portuguese Astronomy

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century, Portuguese astronomy was still firmly anchored in the past. Only astronometric research was pursued and Portuguese professional astronomers seldom published their results. This situation changed in the 1910s thanks to the actions of Francisco Miranda da Costa Lobo (1864Lobo ( -1945. Costa Lobo initiated the construction in Coimbra of a world-class solar observing facility in close co-operation with observatory astronomers based in Meudon. Recognising the importance of international relations, he made frequent scientific travels and disseminated his research to a wide audience. In this paper we improve on the current understanding of the Coimbra spectroheliograph installation. We argue that Costa Lobo's actions, foreign support and social skills played a fundamental role in the internationalisation of Portuguese astronomy.

The importance of scientific data and historical heritage of the geophysical and astronomical observatory of coimbra university for the study of geophysical sciences

“…From 1926 until 1944, the astronomical observatory made daily observations of sunspots, faculae, filaments, and prominences on lines Ca II and Hα using a spectroheliograph installed primarily in the IGUC premises (Figure 5). These observations were published in catalogues (Bonifácio, 2017). In the 1950s, that equipment was relocated to the Santa Clara campus.…”

“…Despite that initial interest, the OAUC would not leap into this new field, remaining committed to its astronomical ephemerides' calculation program and the teaching of practical astronomy and celestial mechanics. Only in the 1920s would an astrophysics program related to the study of the Sun be implemented at OAUC (Bonifácio, 2017). In 1926, Francisco Costa Lobo (1864–1945), then director of OAUC, installed a systematic daily solar observations program of sunspots, faculae, filaments, and prominences, on Ca II and Hα lines.…”