Vanderbilt University Observatory
| Vanderbilt University Observatory | |
|---|---|
| founding | 1876 |
| Type | Observatory |
| Coordinates | 36 ° 3 '8.6 " N , 86 ° 48' 19.1" W |
| place | Nashville |
| operator | Vanderbilt University |
| management | Off-duty |
The Vanderbilt University Observatory (German Vanderbilt University Observatory ) was an astronomical observatory of Vanderbilt University in Nashville , Tennessee .
It was mainly used for educational purposes. In 1942 from Vanderbilt Board of Trust , the Observatory Barnard Observatory named. The deteriorating visibility conditions in the city prompted the university to build a new observatory in a better location, the Dyer Observatory , which was inaugurated in 1953. The Vanderbilt Observatory building was demolished in 1952.
history
The observatory was built in 1876 on the initiative of Landon Garland (1810–1895), the university's first director and professor of physics and astronomy .
On the initiative of the head of engineering and a group of local citizens, the university hired Nashville-born amateur astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard to manage the observatory in 1883. During his time at Vanderbilt, Barnard discovered seven comets . In 1887 Barnard moved to the Lick Observatory . In his honor, the observatory was named in 1942 by the Vanderbilt board of Trust in Barnard Observatory .
In the 1940s, visibility in the city of Nashville deteriorated due to light, smoke, dust, and haze, making the observatory increasingly difficult to use. Preparations for a new observatory began in 1943. Thanks to the tireless lobbying work of Carl Keenan Seyfert , the new Dyer Observatory was built in 1953, named after the largest donor Arthur J. Dyer.
Instruments
- 6-inch aperture refractor from T. Cooke & Sons
- 4-inch meridian telescope from Merz
Web links
- Vanderbilt University History (English)
- A Photographic Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ History. In: Vanderbilt University. Retrieved June 6, 2020 .
- ↑ Edward Emerson Barnard 1857-1923. In: Yerkes Observatory Virtual Museum. Retrieved June 6, 2020 .