Brief Historical Note On Colaba Observatory

An old photograph of Colaba Observatory

This afternoon I met Prof. Ram for our weekly discussions. Our discussion got diverted at one instant of time and I was amazed by the stories Prof. Ram told me about the pioneers of Indian geomagnetic studies. I wanted to know more about the history of geomagnetism in India. There are interesting pasts for every scientific endeavors being pursued today. Even though geomagnetism is a centuries old subject of research, still this is an active subject of research, amazing and so fantastic! Every geomagnetic observatory has a story to tell you.
1826 was an important year in that the East India Company established the Colaba observatory in Bombay (now Mumbai). Its original purpose was astronomical observations and time keeping. In 1841 Arthur Bedford Orlebar, an Astronomy professor in Bombay, started meteorological and geomagnetic measurements at the Colaba Observatory. Initial observations were made manually, but in 1845 after the introduction of self-recording photographic magnetometer by Charles Brooke, the magnetic measurements at Colaba was also upgraded. This instrument was installed in Colaba Observatory in 1871 when Charles Chambers became the director of the observatory.

After the death of Charles Chambers,  Dr. Nanabhoy Ardeshir Framji Moos became the director in 1896, who was the first Indian director of the Observatory. During his period as the director, the Observatory got world-wide fame.

N.A.F. Moos

In 1900, the British Indian government decided to electrify tram service in Bombay and it was a threat to the magnetic observations at Colaba. Dr. N.A.F. Moos found an alternative place at Alibaug, 30km away from Bombay. The observations were carried out both at Colaba and at Alibaug for two years from 1904 to 1906, and it was confirmed that both the stations gave the same observations.

In 1971, the Colaba-Alibaug observatories were converted into an autonomous research organization called the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG). Till then it was part of IMD, the Indian Meteorological Department. At present, the IIG runs over ten observatories acrosss India.