The Union College Observatory
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Observer's page | Journal Seminar | Local Astronomy Links
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View of the Union College Observatory on the Olin buildingLongitude 73° 55' 41.88" W |
The main purpose of the observatory is for education. Union students benefit from hands-on experience with current high-tech instrumentation. A lab course in which students make professional type observations is offered regularly. The observatory is used for senior theses and independent projects; for example, students have used the telescope to study cataclysmic variable stars. Students in the non-science majors astronomy classes also use the telescope in their labs. Once trained in the use of CCD cameras and data reduction, students are eligible for time at the SMARTS telescopes in the Chilean Andes with professional, state of the art instrumentation and some of the best observing conditions in the world!
Open houses for the general public are offered monthly, frequently timed near the first-quarter moon.
Open House: Tues, July 8, 9-10:30pm, 1 day before first quarter moon,Jupiter opposition
Open House: Wed, June 11, 9-10:30pm, first quarter moon+1day; rain date due to bad weather tuesday
Open House: Tues, June 10, 9-10:30pm, first quarter moon CANCELLED!
Storms predicted, so we will postpone until tomorrow night (wednesday) at the same time.
Open House: Saturday, May 10, 8:30-10pm (International Astronomy Day), 6-day old moon
Open House: Tuesday, April 15, 9-10:00pm
Open House: Saturday, April 12, 8:30-10:00pm, postponed due to rain clouds!
Open House: Wednesday, March 12, successful with late start and end
5-day old moon
Open House: Wednesday, Feb 20 (night of lunar eclipse). Time 9-10:30pm. Successful.
Previous open houses:
Open House: Wednesday, Jan 16: 6:30-8pm
Key targets for June: Saturn, the moon, (Mars is very low and small), M13 Hercules cluster, M57 Ring Nebula, M82 galaxy in Ursa Major, etc. Jupiter is visible late in the evening and will reach opposition in July.
Comet 17/P Holmes: Our first images taken thursday night Oct 25 are here and here. The images include luminance, red, visual (green) and blue filters with equal exposure times on 1 second.
Schools are invited for tours. Contact Francis Wilkin, preferably by email including information about your group and schedule (wilkinf@union.edu, or call 388-6344).
The observatory is used for some astronomical research projects. Even from Schenectady, the telescope can be used for some professional research studies, such as the study of cataclysmic variable stars (binary star systems in which a red dwarf star and a white dwarf are in tight orbits about each other, with gas tranferring from the red star to the white dwarf.)
BVR Color Images Obtained at the Union College Observatory
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M 42: Orion Nebula. 2/15/99 |
M 51: Whirlpool Nebula |
M 27: Dumbbell Nebula |
M 57: Ring Nebula |
Details of the optical telescope.
We also have a 2.1-meter radio telescope (a Haystack Observatory SRT):
observes at 1,420 MHz: sensitive to 21-cm emission of neutral Hydrogen
For more information:
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Francis Wilkin, Observatory Manager |
388-6344 |
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Physics and Astronomy Department Office |
388-6254 |
Physics and Astronomy Home Page
Observatory Webmaster wilkinf@union.edu
Physics and Astronomy Chairman vineyarm@union.edu