MESSENGER No. 54 - December 1988 ESO'S EARLY HISTORY, 1953-1975 I. STRIVING TOWARDS THE CONVENTION ADRIAAN BLAAUW*, Kapteyn Laboratory, Groningen L'astronomie est bien I'ecale de la patience. From a letter by A. Danjon to J. H. Oort, 21 September 1962. A Historical Statement vention between five of these six coun­ be replaced by joint effort. As my col­ On January 26, 1954 twelve leading tries - Great Britain went its own way ­ league and friend Charles Fehrenbach astranomers fram six European coun­ signed on 5 October 1962. By that time used to say: "11 faut faire I'Eurape." It tries issued the historical statement we almost ten years had passed since the also was a time at which some of the reproduce here [1]. It carries the sig­ notion of a joint Eurapean observatory Eurapean countries . had to deal with natures of Otto Heckmann and Albrecht had been expressed for the first time. serious internal problems. Governments Unsöld of the German Federal Republic, Another year and three months would as weil as astronomers had to face this. Paul Bourgeois fram Belgium, Andre have to elapse until the impatient hands It is perhaps not surprising, then, that Couder and Andre Danjon fram France, of the astranomers would be free to lay the first instigation towards the joint Roderick Redman fram Great Britain, the first solid foundations for the erec­ effort which would become ESO, had to Jan Oort, Pieter Oosterhoff and Pieter tion of the observatory. The date is come from one who, although rooted in van Rhijn from the Netherlands, and January 17, 1964 when, with the com­ European ancestry, had been an on­ Bertil Lindblad, Knut Lundmark and pletion of aseries of parlamentary ratifi­ looker on European astranomy for many Gunnar Malmquist fram Sweden. cations, not only the moral, but also the years fram overseas: Walter Baade of The statement (drafted by Danjon, financial commitments of the respective the Mount Wilson and Palomar Obser­ Oosterhoff and Redman) expresses the governments had been ensured. vatories. wish that the scientific organizations in In this series of articles I shall first Baade, renowned expert on galactic the respective home countries recom­ describe the developments of the first and extragalactic research, had been mend to the authorities concerned, the decade, that is the period preceding the invited by Oort to spend two months at establishment of a joint observatory in signing of the Convention and the Ratifi­ Leiden Observatory in the spring of South Africa, equipped with a telescope cations, and, hopefully, next try to cover 1953, for lecturing and for collaborating of 3 metres aperture and a Schmidt some of the later developments until the in the preparation of a conference on telescope of 1.2 metres aperture. In the year 1975 when I passed on the General galactic research to be held near paragraphs preceding this expressed Directorate of the organization to my (Continued on page 3) wish, they present the considerations successor Lodewijk Woltjer. that led them to this statement. Their The earliest decade was one of ups wish would ultimately lead to the Con- and downs - many downs! - in a strug­ gle which may seem surprising to the TO All READERS . The aulhor was Secretary 01 lhe ESO Commitlee present young generation of astranom­ Please make sure that the card (which preceded the Council) Irom May 1959 to ers, and can be fully understood only wh ich accompanies this issue of February 1963, Scientific Director 01 ESO (part when seen against the background of a the Messenger is returned, if you time) during the years 1968 and 1969, and Director damaged Eurape, a decade only after Generallrom January 1970 10 January 1975. He want to continue to receive the was a Council member for lhe Netherlands during devastating World War 11. Traditional na­ journal. The editors the years 1979 through 1982. tionalism and mutual misgiving had to lI~s BOuB81gntia. 110 ronomca app l't.tJnun avx pa.va ci-uprcs u~8l.r,n6o: Al1~magno. Bclp'iqu~. ?Tance, Jrand~ Bretap,n~. Pays Baa. Sucdu. r'\U'llS /; Lcydo 10 25" 26 ,janV10r 1'154. Consid~rant c l'ustronooio occupe dans In Belonce con empora1ne une position 088entl~11 ot qu diverses brunches de 1a Bclence qUl.ont r~comment bJn6!lci~ d~ seB progrb8 Bont appo16cB a on bencflCler encore d n8 l'avenlT. ue 11etUd~ dti l'h~m18phorc celca ~ a 8 ral ~u bCQucouP moins avancde quo c 110 da l'hdmisph&r bordal. 1a p1~part dcs Arnnde instruments 6tant 81tu~9 dans l'hv~i8~here tcrrestre nord. on par iculi~r C'ux du Nont Palomar, b, par auf c, 1~9 donn~c9 Bur 1~9QU~11oB r~V08~ 18 conna~93ance du 18 Galaxiu eon~ 101n 'avoir 1a mamB val~ur d oe 1~6 dIverses pur-luB du 0101 t q 'tl eßt lnd18p~n8able dc It38 wncllorer du It:9 compl'!l.t:r l' ou ~lle8 80n insuff~8ante8, 0, notammen , 11 ~8 ha eccnt rc r~ able quc. 10 noyau galact.iqu du Sa~lttu re, la pI part des wnae Polo lairl's, les luar.~8 dc Ma~~llan, lee SY6 emes nx rngnlac lqUtS d~ Pornax c dc Sculpt.or, c'cst-a-dirl! dca s'/s ~m,,:,n qu1 n'on !Jus d'oquivo.lent dans 1 'h6mi8ph~re nord, SOlen prcse.~ lnacc'~8s1blt:'9 at;.« plus {lTunda 1no rwn nta BC lll.:m 'n ';n 9' rV1C, , Qu'un con96quenc~. 11 n'y a p 9 da tdchc plus ur~cntc pour 1 s aetronom06 quP. d'lnst.allcr dans l'h';mispn~re austral dl pUlsaants inst.ruments, compnrablcs 0. coux dt: 1 th~m sph re !'lord. notammen W1 e1oscopc r~ '1(;c (: r ~ 'au mOlns j m d 'ouverture o une chambre de SChm d do 1.20 m, ~ß1a quc, d'au re part, raute de r 's90urces suff1enn es, au un pays n~ semble cn mC9ur~ d'a98urer l'elabora 10n ·t 1 r~ali8a lon d'un 01 proje, que aeulc ne coo~6rn lon lnterna tonal~ permc trait de mener a bonnt: fln, ue 18 partlc1pa 10n Cu ~ cn reprise, de toue lus pa V9 adherant a 1'Union Astronom que InttTnB ionale, !JaT ~xcmpl~, ~n ra1nora1 t ,je granduB com~llcH lons et q •11 parUl Rage c 11m! r ac 0 1emunt l~ nom r dca par lC1~an 8 h quolQue~paY8 vOlsins form n un group'- rdB Teint. , Ce!) pays du l' ,;uropu 'cldunt.alc, pn S'UOSOClan po la eonatr Clon c •. fonctlonnum~nt dlun obs~rvQtoir' cornm 81 tud un Afr1qul' du S~l{j. ouvr rtu~nt aux aß ronom"8 puropcens un ch3mp 0(: r'~eh~rchl: p.' explon~' 'unt,: ('randl,! rlchusse, Olle In par lClpa ion Ac' ~ cn l'ppriae des U1X pavs sus mentionnes paral t lnd19Ih:n~abl(: IJour ,'n I\SS r r lc 8 ce"8, ~ettent le vo.u Qu lus or~on19a 10ns uCit·nt.1t'iqu.... S r\!pre9~ntn ivu$ dc CtJB SlX ::;. ya rl?cornm.u.noent QUX 1 ort ~s qunllfl'~1.:8 10. ('ons ruc on un A.friqut.' du SULI d'un oba 'rvat.OJro COl,Jnun, dot.~. no amml.'n , d 'un tlntJSCOJ,le du 3 jQ U '0 Vl.r l.! l: d' (' chW!'lbrf' u s.c.hmldt. de 1,20 m. Ont sll,,,,d: Prof. O. HecklllQnn o,~, Ihrectc:ur dc l'Uba vo.tolra d, d.'ul'lboUTe; Prof. A. Unsöld Direc'teu.r da 1 'ObR'.1l'Va olre dr 1<1.4:1 Dr. -. Bour~eois Dlrecteur dc l'Obsprvatoirc rov 1 dc B 19lqUt· Dr ~. Coudr.r AB ronom~ de l'Obs'rvatoire '" Parie Prof. A. lJo.njon Ulract~ur de l'0bserva Olro de PorlS Prof. ft. 0. Hedman Directeur de l'Ob8~rvaLolrd d Cam rld.l,e Prof. J. H. uort Uir.cteur de l'Obo.:vatolrs d' ~yd" Prof. r. 'rh. Oosterhoff Astronome ds l'Ohsarvato~re d Lcyde Prof. P. J. van Rhijn Dir.cteur du labora 0 re Astronomique Groninf?Ua Prof. o. Lind lad Diructour d. l'Obsurvatoira de ~tockho1m Prof. K. Lundmark Diract~ur da l'Obsorvatoire de Lund Prof. K. G. Malmqulst Diracteur du l'Obsarvatoirs d'üppsala On January 26, 1954 astronomers from six European countries gathered in the stately Senate Room of Leiden University for a discussion of the recently by Baade and Oort suggested joint European Observatory. Under the chairmanship of Bertil Lindblad of Saltsjöbaden they formulated and duly signed the statement reproduced here, meant to strengthen their efforts for government support in the respective countries. 2 Setting Up the ESO Historical Archives Now that ESO has reached the age and status at which interest in its early ESO HISTORICAL ARCHIVES beginnings is growing, it is desirable to set up an organized system of Inventory per December 1988; Overall Contents documentation that should allow histori­ I. Documents received from outside ESO. cal studies. For that reason, steps have LA. Archives J. H. Oort. been taken by the Director General to 1.A.1. Documents donated by Oort to l. Woltjer, former Director General of ESO. establish the ESO Historical Archives, I.A.2. Documents donated by Oort to A. Blaauw around the year 1976 and transfer­ henceforth to be abbreviated EHA. red by him to ESO Historical Archives. These archives are meant to serve two I.B. Archives J. H. Bannier. Documents donated in 1987 to H. van der Laan by the Dutch organization ZWO purposes: for sponsoring scientific research, pertaining to the directorship of J.