Astronomy Department Equipment

Planetarium:

The Clise planetarium, on the first floor of the Hall of Science, serves to introduce students to the constellations, coordinate systems, and seasonal changes in the night sky. In addition, the Astronomy Department provides planetarium presentations for local groups (e.g., school classes); these presentation are usually given by advanced astronomy students who are interested in improving their speaking and teaching skills. Equipment includes a Spitz 512 instrument, laptop and digital projector.

Telescopes:

The observing lab on the roof of the Hall of Science has several small telescopes available during (clear) evening lab periods for astronomy student use. These include six 8-10-inch Newtonians, three 8-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrains, a 4-inch Takahashi refractor, a 9-inch refractor and a particularly fine 4-inch Alvan Clark refractor.

The Bracher observatory 8 miles north of town houses a 16-inch Newtonian (and also serves as a dark-sky site for introducing students to fainter constellations).

A dome on the roof houses a 14-inch Celestron and PC for use with film or CCD cameras.

Peripherals:

We have a 5-color Optec photometer and

an SBIG ST2000XM CCD camera w/ 5-color filter wheel for use with the Celestrons.

Several adaptors are available for attaching cameras to the telescopes.

Solar observing may be done using a neutral-density filter on one of the 8-inch Celestrons or using an H-alpha filter on the Takahashi.

Computers:

In our indoor lab there are 5 PCs, one with an attached scanner, 3 iMacs, and a laser printer for astronomy student use. Students doing research have access to an additional PC, a high-end Mac, and two Sun workstations (and ultra and a blade). Color and poster printing are available using equipment shared with other science departments.

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