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Telescope

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made in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire

Telescope
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This telescope was made around 1860 by Thomas Morton, a carpet machinery maker and scientific instrument maker based in Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The curved rack governing the angle of the telescope is a striking feature of Morton's telescope design.

The reflecting telescope has speculum metal optics and a long external focusing rod. It is mounted in a wooden tripod. The mirror retention plate is stamped 'THOS. MORTON. H.M.R.S.S.A. [Honorary Member of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts] / KILMARNOCK'.

Thomas Morton's interest in telescope construction led him to study astronomy. In 1818, he built an astronomical observatory in Kilmarnock, furnished with instruments which he had made, and which was open to the public.

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