A Cosmic Treasury
Every year on 20 August, the Cronyn Observatory holds a special public night celebrating the historical and cultural heritage of this Observatory — the building, its instruments, and the people who have looked through them since 1940. It is free, it is open to everyone, and the telescopes run late.
Why 20 August?
The date is Mark Tovey’s birthday. Mark was Curator of the Cronyn Observatory from 2015 until his death in January 2026, for most of that time as a volunteer, and more than anyone he is the reason this Observatory knows its own history. He designed the three “time machines” downstairs, catalogued the collection, and spent years recovering the stories of the people who built this place. Asteroid (178088) Marktovey is named in his honour. [Read more about Mark]
The name
In 1944, a visitor to this Observatory named Beatrice Welling put together a bundle of astronomically themed poems — one for every week of the year — and gave it to the Director as a gift. It was set aside, and then forgotten.
Decades later it was found by Peter Jedicke, who gave it to Mark Tovey, Curator of the Observatory. Rather than simply publishing the poems, Mark spent years pairing each one with a work of art he tracked down in museum collections around the world. The result, A Cosmic Treasury: Seeing the Skies Through Poets’ Eyes, was published in 2023 — completing, at last, an intergenerational project begun by a stranger nearly eighty years earlier.
The name fits this event too: our observatory is a cosmic treasury, full of instruments, artifacts, skies and stories worth sharing — and above all full of people, whom Mark had a gift for finding, and for bringing together. It also carries his signature cheerfulness, and his enthusiasm for inspiring awe and wonder in everyone who walked through the door.
On the night
We will run this event like a regular summer public night: Doors open at 8:30 pm and the evening runs until 11:00. Come and go as you please — there is no set programme to sit through.
The three “time machines” are open, with guides on hand to tell the story of how they were made and what became of the people who worked in them. And when the skies are clear, the telescopes are running late, including the 1940 refractor that has been under this dome since the building opened.
This event is free, and everyone is welcome. If it is cloudy, the evening goes ahead indoors — there is plenty to see.
Support this work
Donations to the Observatory support our heritage work: the collection, the historic rooms, and the research that keeps this building’s history alive. It is the work Mark Tovey spent his curatorship on, and gifts made in his memory were the start of it. You can click this link to Donate to the Cronyn Observatory.