Colombo University Observatory

Last updated

The Colombo University Observatory is the astronomical observatory located at the University of Colombo. Formally the Colombo Observatory it is a permanently mounted telescope with its own observatory dome located on the university grounds next to Reid Avenue in Colombo. The observatory is used by the Mathematical and Astronomical Society. [1]

The telescope is a 12½-inch (32 cm) Newtonian reflector solidly fixed on a polar mount. This is housed in an observatory with a rotating hemispherical dome moving on rollers. Established in the 1920s, it was disused during the 1940s and 1950s after it was taken over by the RAF during World War II and damaged. It was put back into use in the early 1960s. The telescope was fully operational until the late 1980s when its components were stolen during the 1987–89 Insurrection. Since then attempts have been made for its restoration.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lick Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in California

The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of California. It is on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, United States. The observatory is managed by the University of California Observatories, with headquarters on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus, where its scientific staff moved in the mid-1960s. It is named after James Lick.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory</span> Observatory in Chile

The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) is an astronomical observatory located on the summit of Mt. Cerro Tololo in the Coquimbo Region of northern Chile, with additional facilities located on Mt. Cerro Pachón about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the southeast. It is approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of La Serena, where support facilities are located. The principal telescopes at CTIO are the 4 m Víctor M. Blanco Telescope, named after Puerto Rican astronomer Víctor Manuel Blanco, and the 4.1 m Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope, which is situated on Cerro Pachón. Other telescopes on Cerro Tololo include the 1.5 m, 1.3 m, 1.0 m, and 0.9 m telescopes operated by the SMARTS consortium. CTIO also hosts other research projects, such as PROMPT, WHAM, and LCOGTN, providing a platform for access to the southern hemisphere for U.S. and worldwide scientific research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leiden Observatory</span> Established 1633 in the Netherlands

Leiden Observatory is an astronomical institute of Leiden University, in the Netherlands. Established in 1633 to house the quadrant of Willebrord Snellius, it is the oldest operating university observatory in the world, with the only older still existing observatory being the Vatican Observatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armagh Observatory</span> Astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland

Armagh Observatory is an astronomical research institute in Armagh, Northern Ireland. Around 25 astronomers are based at the observatory, studying stellar astrophysics, the Sun, Solar System astronomy and Earth's climate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge</span> Astronomy department of the university of Cambridge

The Institute of Astronomy (IoA) is the largest of the three astronomy departments in the University of Cambridge, and one of the largest astronomy sites in the United Kingdom. Around 180 academics, postdocs, visitors and assistant staff work at the department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haleakalā Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory on Maui Island, Hawaii, USA

The Haleakalā Observatory, also known as the Haleakalā High Altitude Observatory Site, is Hawaii's first astronomical research observatory. It is located on the island of Maui and is owned by the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaiʻi, which operates some of the facilities on the site and leases portions to other organizations. Tenants include the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGTN). At over 3,050 meters (10,010 ft) in altitude, the summit of Haleakalā is above one third of the Earths's troposphere and has excellent astronomical seeing conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meyer–Womble Observatory</span> Observatory

Meyer–Womble Observatory (MWO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the University of Denver. It is located near the summit of Mount Blue Sky in the Arapaho National Forest approximately 60 kilometers (37 mi) west of Denver, Colorado (USA). At an elevation of 4,326 meters (14,193 ft), it is the third-highest optical/infrared observatory in the world, and was the highest until the Indian Astronomical Observatory opened in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McCormick Observatory</span> Observatory

The Leander McCormick Observatory is one of the astronomical observatories operated by the Department of Astronomy of the University of Virginia, and is situated just outside Charlottesville, Virginia (US) in Albemarle County on the summit of Mount Jefferson. It is named for Leander J. McCormick (1819–1900), who provided the funds for the telescope and observatory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Laguna Observatory</span> Observatory

Mount Laguna Observatory (MLO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by San Diego State University (SDSU). The telescope was operated in partnership with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) until 2000. MLO is located approximately 75 kilometers (47 mi) east of downtown San Diego, California, on the eastern edge of the Cleveland National Forest, in the Laguna Mountains on the SDSU Astronomy Campus near the hamlet of Mount Laguna. MLO was dedicated on June 19, 1968, seven years after SDSU's Department of Astronomy became an independent academic department of SDSU's College of Sciences. The dedication took place during the 1968 summer meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Anderson Mesa Station is an astronomical observatory established in 1959 as a dark-sky observing site for Lowell Observatory. It is located at Anderson Mesa in Coconino County, Arizona, about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Lowell's main campus on Mars Hill in Flagstaff, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Lemmon Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Arizona, United States

Mount Lemmon Observatory (MLO), also known as the Mount Lemmon Infrared Observatory, is an astronomical observatory located on Mount Lemmon in the Santa Catalina Mountains approximately 28 kilometers (17 mi) northeast of Tucson, Arizona (US). The site in the Coronado National Forest is used with special permission from the U.S. Forest Service by the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, and contains a number of independently managed telescopes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astronomical Observatory (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)</span> United States historic place

The University of Illinois Astronomical Observatory, located at 901 S. Mathews Avenue in Urbana, Illinois, on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, was built in 1896, and was designed by Charles A. Gunn. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 6, 1986, and on December 20, 1989, was designated a National Historic Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airdrie Public Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Airdrie, Scotland

Airdrie Public Observatory is a fully operational, historic astronomical observatory, which is part of the library building in the town of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. There are only four public observatories operating in the United Kingdom, all of which are in Scotland. Airdrie Observatory is the smallest, and second oldest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fuertes Observatory</span> Observatory

Fuertes Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the North Campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. The observatory was designed by L.P. Burnham, Cornell Professor of Architecture and completed in fall of 1917. It was originally used by the Civil Engineering Department as an instructional field office for navigation and surveying. Today, the observatory is primarily used for public outreach, welcoming over two thousand visitors per year with open houses on clear Friday nights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dearborn Observatory</span> Astronomical observatory in Evanston, Illinois

The Dearborn Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on the Evanston campus of Northwestern University. The observatory was originally constructed in 1888, through an agreement between the university and the Chicago Astronomical Society. In the summer of 1939, Dearborn Observatory had to be moved to make way for the construction of the Technological Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zagreb Observatory</span>

The Zagreb Astronomical Observatory is the astronomical observatory located in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and founded in 1903. It is managed by the Zagreb Astronomical Society; its main purpose is educational.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory</span> Observatory in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory is a historical observatory located on the grounds of the University of Toronto, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original building was constructed in 1840 as part of a worldwide research project run by Edward Sabine to determine the cause of fluctuations in magnetic declination. Measurements from the Toronto site demonstrated that sunspots were responsible for this effect on Earth's magnetic field. When this project concluded in 1853, the observatory was greatly expanded by the Canadian government and served as the country's primary meteorological station and official timekeeper for over fifty years. The observatory is considered the birthplace of Canadian astronomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Østervold Observatory</span> Observatory

Østervold Observatory is a former astronomical observatory in Copenhagen, Denmark owned and operated by the University of Copenhagen. It opened in 1861 as a replacement for the university's old observatory at Rundetårn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Mountain Observatory</span> Observatory

West Mountain Observatory (WMO) is an astronomical observatory located on West Mountain near the community of West Mountain, Utah United States, about 22 km (14 mi) southwest of Provo. The observatory is owned and operated by Brigham Young University (BYU), and opened in 1981 after increasing light pollution reduced the utility of the Orson Pratt Observatory on the BYU campus. The first year of observing with the new 0.9 m telescope included imaging of intrinsic variable stars and high-mass X-ray binaries. Past research topics include light curve analysis of Delta Scuti variable stars and identifying pre-main-sequence stars by searching for H-alpha emitting objects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope</span> Observatory

The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope, is a former scientific institution in South Africa. Founded by the British Board of Longitude in 1820, its main building is now the headquarters building of the South African Astronomical Observatory.

References

  1. Jayaratne, Chandana. "The Forerunner of Modern Astronomy in Sri Lanka". Mathematical and Astronomical Society, University of Colombo. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011.

6°54′05″N79°51′41″E / 6.90143°N 79.86139°E / 6.90143; 79.86139