Kirkwood Observatory

Kirkwood Observatory

Kirkwood Observatory, 2006.
Organization Indiana University
Location Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A.
Coordinates 39°09′57″N 86°31′34″W / 39.16583°N 86.52611°W / 39.16583; -86.52611Coordinates: 39°09′57″N 86°31′34″W / 39.16583°N 86.52611°W / 39.16583; -86.52611
Altitude 235 meters (770 ft)
Weather See the Clear Sky Clock
Established 1901
Website www.astro.indiana.edu
Telescopes
Warner & Swasey 0.3-meter (12-inch) refractor
Solar telescope heliostat, spectrograph, digital hydrogen-alpha imaging
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

Kirkwood Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Indiana University. It is located in Bloomington, Indiana (USA). It is named for Daniel Kirkwood (1814–1895) an astronomer and professor of mathematics at Indiana University who discovered the divisions of the asteroid belt known as the Kirkwood Gaps.

Built in 1900 and dedicated on May 15, 1901, the observatory was thoroughly renovated during the 2001–02 academic year. Although the facility is no longer used for research, its original refracting telescope, built by Warner & Swasey Company with a 12-inch (0.3m) Brashear objective lens, also received a complete restoration. The telescope is now used regularly for outreach events and occasionally for undergraduate-level classes.

Directors

Kirkwood Observatory also has an instructional solar telescope.

See also

References

  1. "Kirkwood Observatory Homepage". Kirkwood Observatory. Retrieved December 14, 2005. 


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.