Oakley Observatory

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The Oakley Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Terre Haute in the US state of Indiana . The observatory, operated by the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology , was founded in 2000 with a grant from the Oakley Foundation, has eight telescopes and is mainly used for teaching and training purposes. It was built on the initiative of Samuel F. Hulbert , who was the college's president from 1976 to 2004.

The roll-top observatory was built on long pillars to get over the surrounding trees. The six largest telescopes are individually mounted on correspondingly high solid concrete foundations that reach through the floor into the interior of the observatory. The advantage of being in Terre Haute is that in this relatively small town, light pollution is not too much of a problem for observation, and the observatory could be located on the university campus, making it easily accessible for students.

The instrumentation consists of a telescope constructed in 1886 by the manufacturer Alvan Clark & ​​Sons with a diameter of six inches , a historic eight inch Cassegrain telescope and six further reflector telescopes with diameters between 11 and 22 inches. All eight telescopes are installed on Paramount ME mounts and are permanently ready for use. The observatory is registered under the IAU code 916.

33 asteroids have been discovered so far by the students at Oakley Observatory .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Oakley Observatory. In: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana. 2019, accessed November 19, 2019 .
  2. a b c Oakley Observatory. In: Texas Tech University, Physics & Astronomy Department, Lubbock, Texas. December 10, 2013, accessed November 19, 2019 .

Coordinates: 39 ° 29 ′ 1.5 ″  N , 87 ° 18 ′ 59 ″  W.