Koffler accelerator

Koffler accelerator

The Koffler particle accelerator of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, was built in 1976. The building became a symbol of the institute. In 2011, an astronomical observatory was opened on the top of the building.

Building

The accelerator building, designed by architect Moshe Harel  [ he ] in Formalist style, was completed in 1976. It has two towers, of 57 and 53 meters high, and an "egg-shaped structure", 22 by 14 meters in its widest points. It became a symbol of the Weizmann Institute of Science. ^{[1] [2]} It was designed to have "a close resemblance to the original van de Graaff accelerators". ^[3] It is named after Murray Koffler, who was the first Chair of Weizmann Canada. ^[4] Now it serves as a conference hall.

Accelerator

The original accelerator installed in 1977 was a 14UD pelletron tandem accelerator, built by National Electrostatics Corp. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Observatory

The Martin S. Kraar Observatory on top of the accelerator building was opened in 2011. ^[8] It is named after the philanthropist Martin S. Kraar. ^[9] The observatory is remotely-operated. ^[8] There are two telescopes there, the larger one is 41 cm, and the second one is 80 mm guide telescope, both connected to CCD cameras. ^[10]

Gallery

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  View from the conference room
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References

1. "The Koffler Accelerator" (PDF). Weizmann Institute. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
2. "Cement (Photography, film)". Arts. Weizmann Institute. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
3. "Israel's new accelerator" . Physics Bulletin. 28 (11): 505. November 1977. doi:10.1088/0031-9112/28/11/016. ISSN   0031-9112 . Retrieved 15 January 2024.
4. Reed, Jon (19 December 2018). "A tribute to Murray Koffler". Weizmann Canada. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
5. Goldring, Gvirol (1973). "The new accelerator facility in rehovot" . Nuclear Structure Physics. Springer: 254–266. doi:10.1007/3-540-06554-7_13 . Retrieved 15 January 2024.
6. Goldring, G. (1977). "The Koffler accelerator in Rehovot". Revue de Physique Appliquée. 12 (10): 1309–1314. doi:10.1051/rphysap:0197700120100130900.
7. Berkovits, D; Paul, M; Ben-Dov, Y; Bordeanu, C; Ghelberg, S; Heber, O; Hass, M; Shahar, Y; Verri, G (1 August 2004). "Upgrading of the AMS facility at the Koffler 14UD Pelletron accelerator" . Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms. 223–224: 161–167. doi:10.1016/j.nimb.2004.04.033. ISSN   0168-583X . Retrieved 14 January 2024.
8. "About the Observatory | The Martin S. Kraar Observatory". www.weizmann.ac.il. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
9. "Martin S. Kraar | The Martin S. Kraar Observatory". www.weizmann.ac.il. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
10. "A Dual-Purpose Observatory | ScienceBlogs". scienceblogs.com. Retrieved 14 January 2024.

Further reading

• Goldring, Gvirol; Hass, Michael; Paul, Michael (July 2004). "Laboratory Portrait: The Accelerator Laboratory at the Weizmann Institute" . Nuclear Physics News. 14 (3): 5–13. doi:10.1080/10506890491034875. ISSN   1061-9127 . Retrieved 15 January 2024.

31°54′29″N34°48′44″E / 31.90805°N 34.81232°E / 31.90805; 34.81232