Texas A&M Astronomical Observatory

Last updated
Physics Teaching Observatory, Texas A&M University
Organization Texas A&M University
Location College Station, Texas, U.S.
Coordinates 30°34′21.78″N96°21′59.94″W / 30.5727167°N 96.3666500°W / 30.5727167; -96.3666500
Altitude86.2584 meters (283 feet)
Website astronomy.physics.tamu.edu/observatory.html
Telescopes
AMS ObservatoryUnknown size reflector
Texas A&M Robotic Telescope Unknown size reflector
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location of Physics Teaching Observatory, Texas A&M University

Texas A&M Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Texas A&M University's Department of Physics. It is located in College Station, Texas, USA.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Observatory</span> Location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events

An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Historically, observatories were as simple as containing an astronomical sextant or Stonehenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arecibo Observatory</span> Radio observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico

The Arecibo Observatory, also known as the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) and formerly known as the Arecibo Ionosphere Observatory, is an observatory in Barrio Esperanza, Arecibo, Puerto Rico owned by the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

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

McDonald Observatory is an astronomical observatory located near unincorporated community of Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas, United States. The facility is located on Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, with additional facilities on Mount Fowlkes, approximately 1.3 kilometers (0.81 mi) to the northeast. The observatory is part of The University of Texas at Austin. It is an organized research unit of the College of Natural Sciences.

The Pine Bluff Observatory (PBO) is an astronomical observatory located in the town of Cross Plains, Wisconsin (USA) about 24 kilometers (15 mi) west of Madison. PBO is owned and operated by the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW-Madison). It opened in 1958, and is mainly used by students and faculty of UW-Madison for instruction and research. PBO also provides a facility for testing new instruments. Recent research conducted at PBO includes measuring the lunar sodium tail, monitoring circumstellar disks around Be stars, and studying the warm ionized medium.

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

The Apache Point Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, United States, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south of Cloudcroft. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State University (NMSU) and owned by the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC). Access to the telescopes and buildings is private and restricted.

<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 site was identified by a team of scientists from Chile and the United States in 1959, and it was selected in 1962. Construction began in 1963 and regular astronomical observations commenced in 1965. Construction of large buildings on Cerro Tololo ended with the completion of the Víctor Blanco Telescope in 1974, but smaller facilities have been built since then. Cerro Pachón is still under development, with two large telescopes inaugurated since 2000, and one in the final stages of construction as of 2023

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

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">South African Astronomical Observatory</span> Observatory

South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) is the national centre for optical and infrared astronomy in South Africa. It was established in 1972. The observatory is run by the National Research Foundation of South Africa. The facility's function is to conduct research in astronomy and astrophysics. The primary telescopes are located in Sutherland, which is 370 kilometres (230 mi) from Observatory, Cape Town, where the headquarters is located.

<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 (USA) 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. Currently SDSU is working with University of Kansas (KU), and UNC Chapel Hill on various projects. MLO also engages with the public through a series of scientific outreach efforts such as the summer visitors program (SVP). SVP's take place on select dates throughout the summer months and include scientific demonstrations in the museum / gift shop, an introductory lecture on astronomy, and a stargazing session using a myriad of telescopes such as the 0.52 m Reginald Buller 21-inch Visitors' Telescope. The SVP is predominantly run by graduate students within the SDSU Astronomy Master's program.

<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">Krisztián Sárneczky</span> Hungarian teacher of geography

Krisztián Sárneczky is a Hungarian teacher of geography and prolific discoverer of minor planets and supernovae, researching at Konkoly Observatory in Budapest, Hungary. He is a board member of the Hungarian Astronomical Association (HAA) and member of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, leader of the Comet Section of the HAA, and is a contributor in the editorial work of Hungarian Astronomical Almanach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harlan James Smith</span> American astronomer (1924–1991)

Harlan James Smith was an American astronomer. He served as director of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory from 1963 to 1989, where, among other accomplishments, he initiated the construction of the Harlan J. Smith Telescope, a 2.7-meter (107-inch) reflector bearing his name.

<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.

James Lindsay Hilton has been an astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory since 1986. In 1999 he published a new set of ephemerides for 15 of the largest asteroids for use in the Astronomical Almanac.

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

Cambridge Observatory is an astronomical observatory at the University of Cambridge in the East of England. It was established in 1823 and is now part of the site of the Institute of Astronomy. The old Observatory building houses the Institute of Astronomy Library which has a collection of modern and historical astronomical books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas B. Suntzeff</span>

Nicholas B. Suntzeff is an American astronomer and cosmologist. He is a University Distinguished Professor and holds the Mitchell/Heep/Munnerlyn Chair of Observational Astronomy in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Texas A&M University where he is Director of the Astronomy Program. He is an observational astronomer specializing in cosmology, supernovae, stellar populations, and astronomical instrumentation. With Brian Schmidt he founded the High-z Supernova Search Team, which was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011 to Schmidt and Adam Riess.

The SFA Observatory (SFA) is an astronomical observatory located 17 km (11 mi) north of Nacogdoches, Texas (USA). The observatory is owned and operated by Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU), and opened in 1976. It is used for undergraduate instruction and for graduate-level research.

Rosemary Hill Observatory (RHO) is an astronomical observatory located near the town of Bronson, Florida (USA), about 38 kilometers (24 mi) southwest of Gainesville, Florida. The observatory is owned and operated by the University of Florida, and opened in 1967. It has two telescopes and dormitories for extended observing runs.

The Willard L. Eccles Observatory (WEO) is an astronomical observatory located on Frisco Peak in the San Francisco Mountains of Utah (USA), about 27 km (17 mi) northwest of Milford, Utah. The observatory is owned and operated by the University of Utah, and opened in 2010. The observatory features a 0.8 m (31 in) Ritchey-Chretien telescope built by DFM Engineering on an equatorial mount. The construction of the observatory was funded by donations from the Willard L. Eccles Foundation and the E.R. & E.W. Dumke Foundation.

Anita L. Cochran is an American astronomer, planetary scientist, and senior research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. She is also the assistant director for research support at the McDonald Observatory. She focuses on the study of primitive bodies in the solar system and the composition of comets.

References

  1. "Texas A&M Astronomical Observatory Homepage". Astronomy Web Site. Archived from the original on May 12, 2007. Retrieved December 15, 2005.