The bit that I know about the Oslo (actually at Harestua) Baker-Nunn comes from the document ‘Science in War and Peace’ (in Norwegian). It’s actually quite an interesting read and gives a very good history of the early days of the BN and how there came to be a camera at Harestua. Here are a few of the more relevant bits that I picked out from it…
- At the end of July, 1959, a Baker-Nunn camera was delivered to the Oslo Solar Observatory at Harestua.
- Construction on the ‘satellite house’, the building that would house the instrumentation and provide accommodation for the staff, was finished in February of 1960.
- The camera was installed on its base and then underwent a one-month period of testing that finished at the end of April.
- Routine observations began in August 1960, but, because of the bright summer nights, observations were really only possible between the months of August and May.
- During the first two years of observations, nearly 300 nights were either lost to fog or cloud while 274 were observable.
- The station continued in operation until 1968 when it was dismantled and sent to a military base in New Zealand.
I had thought that this was the camera that went to Mt. John so am still trying to find some clarity on this. Did it go to a military base as suggested or not?