Stereoscopic view of a Sheepshank telescope on Mount Guajara, Tenerife

Stereoscopic view of a Sheepshank telescope, positioned within an enclosure of crates, pointing away from the camera. A small polarimeter is visible in the foreground, and a brick wall and mountain are visible in the background.

Photograph inscribed: 'The interior of the telescope enclosure at Guajara showing the Sheepshank's equatorial, and Airy's polarimeter.'

'Airy' likely refers to George Biddell Airy (1801- 1892), the Astronomer Royal between 1835 and 1881, who had expressed his support of Smyth's expedition. Guajara was the first stop made by Smyth's party on their ascent to the peak of Tenerife, or Mount Teide.

From the 'Tenerife Papers of Charles Piazzi Smyth', a scrapbook of watercolours and stereographs from his 1856-57 astronomical expedition to this volcanic mountain range in Tenerife.

Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819-1900) Italian Astronomer was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857, but resigned in 1874.