* Astronomy

NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Observatory-1 measured the `cosmic low-energy background` in the late 1970s. The X-rays and gamma ray radiation is thought to come from very distant, supermassive black holes. Now new results from Europe's Integral gamma-ray observatory h...

ORAS Observatory closed In the wake of a recent court ruling, the Oil Region Astronomical Society is closing its observatory at Two Mile Run Park to the public, at least temporarily. The ruling came in the course of a lawsuit filed against park operators in September 2004 by the club and its president...

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) is currently under construction on Cerro Toco in Chile. And AMEC, the international project management and engineering company, is near completion of one of the world’s most sophisticated and sensitive telescopes. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope (A...

Looking north. This recumbent stone circle erected in the 3rd-2nd millennium BC, lies on a hill northwest of Aberdeen. The ten uprights are of red granite, while the massive 24-ton recumbent is of dark grey grani...

A team from University Of Torontos marine geophysics group is participating in a joint project to create the worlds largest cable-linked sea floor observatory on the Pacific Ocean floor. Located in the northeast Pacific off the coasts of British Columbia, Washington and Oregon, the active Juan d...

The international H.E.S.S. team has won the coveted Descartes prize for Basic Research (worth £226,000) for their work studying some of the most violent phenomena in the Universe. H.E.S.S. is the High Energy Stereoscopic System telescopes in Namibia, South-West Africa. The H.E.S.S. team curre...

The Parkes radio telescope, is one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere. It was completed in 1961 and has operated almost continuously to the present day. The movie "The Dish" starring Sam Neill was based on the Parkes telescope's key role in the Apollo 11 Moon landing. It has a dish o...

The Goseck circle consists of a circular Henge-construction with a diameter of 75m in the district of Weissenfels in Saxony-Anhalt. It marks the beginning of a millennia-old astronomical tradition known also from the [url=http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=58381&subF...

After four weeks of recovery efforts from the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that shook the island of Hawai'i on October 15th, the Gemini North telescope resumed regular science operations on November 1...

YBJ Observatory was founded in 1990. It has hosted the Tibet ASγ Experiment (Sino-Japanese Cooperation) ever since. After 6 years’ preparation, the ARGO -YBJ Project (Sino-Italian Cooperation) started its detector installation in 2000. Both of them aim at the research of the origin of hig...

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Jesuit Father José Gabriel Funes as the new director of the Vatican Astronomical Observatory, replacing Jesuit Father George Coyne. Father Coyne, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, US, had been director of the observatory since 1978. The Vatican press offic...

The California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory invites the public to share the wonders of exploring the universe during its open house on Saturday, June 25, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors will go behind the glass for an insider's tour of the giant Hale Telescope. Events at...

The world's highest observatory is in the western Himalayas. The Indian Astronomical Observatory, sits 4,517 meters above sea level in the village of Hanle, Ladakh, India. The site is a dry, cold desert with sparse human population and the ancient Hanle monastery as its nearest neighbour. ...

The Hartebeesthoek space launch ground station is located along the Magaliesberg mountain range, approximately 70 km west of Pretoria, South Africa, and provides world-class telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) services. cronym Station Name East Longitude Geodetic Latit...

During the middle of the 19th century the Government of Victoria voted the sum of £5000 for the construction of a large equatorial telescope to be erected at the Melbourne Observatory, Australia. The construction of the grand instrument was entrusted to Mr.Grubb, F.R.S., of Dublin, Ireland....

The Big Bear Solar Observatory is located on a spit of land in the middle of Big Bear Lake, California, to exploits the excellent climatic conditions of Big Bear Lake, and reduce the image distortion, which usually occurs when the [url=http://www.bbso.n...

A sophisticated security system has been installed at Edinburgh's Royal Observatory to protect millions of pounds worth of equipment from vandals. Motion sensors and access control panels have been installed on all doors at the facility on Blackford Hill. The upgrade has been driven by a f...

The W.J. McDonald Observatory of The University of Texas at Austin has received a pledge of a $750,000 joint donation from George P. and Cynthia W. Mitchell, The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Charitable Remainder Unitrust. The gift will fund cosm...

Between 1727 and 1734 Maharajah Jai Singh II of Jaipur constructed an astronomical observatory, in Jairpur, the capital of the federal state Rhajasthan in west central India. The observatory, or "Jantar Mantars" as they are commonly known, incorporate multiple buildings of unique form...

Timelapse video of an amateur radio telescope in Finland tracking the Sun through the longest day of 2007 [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=k3z7nvjn-bw]

Title: Out-Of-Focus Holography at the Green Bank Telescope Authors: B. Nikolic, R. M. Prestage, D. S. Balser, C. J. Chandler, R. E. Hills We describe phase-retrieval holography measurements of the 100-m diameter Green Bank Telescope using astronomical sources and an ast...

The role of sea navigation in sparking the ancient investigation of the stars cannot be underestimated. Our earliest stories speak of the glories of the master mariner, Odysseus, caught in the powerful vortex of Poseidon's wrath for 10 long and gruelling years. Our first maps of the surroundi...

An observatory being refurbished near Cloudcroft is getting a new mission providing telescope time for budding astronomers around the world. The Tzec Maun Observatory in the Lincoln National Forest was built by the Air Force in 1962 to track Soviet space activity during the Cold War. Its 48-inch d...

Title: New 60-cm Radio Survey Telescope with the Sideband-Separating SIS Receiver for the 200 GHz Band Authors: Taku Nakajima, Masahiro Kaiden, Jun Korogi, Kimihiro Kimura, Yoshinori Yonekura, Hideo Ogawa, Shingo Nishiura, Kazuhito Dobashi, Toshihiro Handa, Kotaro Kohno, Jun-Ichi Morino,...

A new page is being turned in the history of the ESA Redu ground station with the award today of a contract for maintenance and operations services to Redu Space Services S.A. The contract also foresees the possibility for Redu Space Services to provide new commercial services from the ESA Redu stat...

The NCU (National Central University) Lu-Lin Observatory is located at Mt. Front Lu-Lin, 120o 52' 25" E and 23o 28' 07" N, a 2862-m peak in the Yu-Shan National Park. The construction of Lu-Lin Observatory was finished on January 14, 1999. The initial study of Lu-Lin site was started sinc...

The Hume Cronyn Memorial Observatory will be open to the public for summer stargazing starting June 2. The open house takes place Saturday evenings, 8:30 - 11 p.m., during June, July, and August, ending on August 25. An astronomer will be on hand to answer questions and enable telescope viewing. [ur...

Hawaii's W.M. Keck Observatory will use a grant from a charitable foundation to improve conditions for its summit crew. The M.R. and Evelyn Hudson Foundation of Dallas selected the observatory for a $75,000 donation, the observatory said Sunday night. "One of Hudson Foundation's area...

Lowell Observatory and Discovery Communications Reach Milestone in Construction of the Discovery Channel Telescope. The telescope will be amongst the most sophisticated ground-based telescopes of its size; and to be fully operational by 2010, the Discovery Channel Telescope wi...

The recent addition of a field lens in the Altair adaptive optics system at the Gemini Observatory has resulted in a significant improvement in near-infrared imaging capabilities at Gemini North. Altair with the field lens will begin regular science use in semester 2006A. [img]http://stat...

Construction of China's largest general optics tracking telescope was completed on May 12 and it is now ready for use at the Chinese Academy of Science Yunnan Province Lijiang astronomic observatory. The telescope, 2.4 meters in diameter, 8 meters tall and weighing 40 tons, is the largest of its ki...

Hawaii island is not only home to world class observatories, it is also home to a science centre that has kids looking to the stars and to past. You can see from the outside, that the Imiloa Astronomy Centre of Hawai`i is different than many other science centres, three large domes make up this facility...

As the country celebrates the 150th anniversary of the First War of Independence, there exists a monument on the Capital's Northern Ridge that is special not only because it was associated with the historic revolt but also because of its astronomical significance. Built by Firoz Shah Tughlaq, the...

Kunming Base of the United Laboratory of Optical Astronomy Chinese Academy of Sciences Expand (135kb, 800 x 600) Latitude: 25.027005°N, Longitude: 102.790780°E

The oldest solar observatory in the Americas has been found, suggesting the existence of early, sophisticated Sun cults, scientists report. It comprises of a group of 2,300-year-old structures, known as the Thirteen Towers, which are found in the Chankillo archaeological site, Peru. The tower...

Sierra Stars Observatory will be available to the public Galaxies far, far away will become closer to Tahoe - and the rest of the world - once a private observatory in Markleeville begins operations next month. Unlike almost all telescopes of its calibre, the Sierra Stars Observatory will be availa...

IN May of this year, Wayne Rosing was named the first senior fellow in mathematical and physical sciences at the University of California. As part of the position, Rosing will work with Anthony Tyson, a...

Taking advantage of southern Utah's clear, dark skies, Bryce Canyon National Park wants to build a $2 million public astronomical observatory. It would be only the second observatory for the National Park Service and a much grander type than the small facility at Chaco Canyon National Historical...

Stargazers rejoice - a little-known York observatory could open to the public seven days a week for the first time in its history. The historic Museum Gardens facility is in full working order, but only usually open its doors for a couple of weeks a year. But now the York Museums Trust, which looks aft...

Lynchburg College students will be seeing stars this fall. A $450,000 observatory, located on the Claytor Nature Preserve, should be ready for use by then. Initial work began last Friday and college officials expect the work to be completed in August. Dr. Neal Sumerlin, who spearheaded the projec...

It was the perfect Eagle Scout project, something befitting that name, a task that soared into the sky and beyond into space. The astronomy dome at Monrovia High School, opened in 1983, had gradually fallen prey to neglect and changing curriculums until, finally, it wasn't used at all. Thursday, be...

The 21-inch optical telescope used by University of Arizona undergraduates for research and by the public for viewing stars and planets will be renamed this month to honour the late Raymond E. White, Jr. The telescope is housed in the historic 1922 Campus Station dome on the west side of Steward Obse...

HATNet is a network of six small (11cm diameter), wide-field (8x8deg), fully-automated "HAT" telescopes. The scientific goal of the project is to detect and characterize extrasolar planets (exoplanets; those outside the Solar System), and also to find and follow bright variable st...

University of Arizona astronomers had been preparing for days for this mission to verify the recent apparent discovery of water on the surface of Pluto's only known moon. Atop Mount Hopkins in the Santa Rita Mountains on April 3, 1987, astronomer George Rieke, above, went through a final instrumen...

On 9 June, a powerful new 35-metre antenna, presently undergoing acceptance testing at Cebreros, Spain, successfully picked up signals and tracked Rosetta and SMART-1. It is ESA's second deep-space ground...

Palisades-Dows Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Cedar Amateur Astronomers (Inc). It is located 15 miles southeast of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA and was founded in 1987. It is named after the Palisades-Dows Preserve which it is located in. [url=http://en.wi...

Star gazers and science enthusiasts can now smile with the realisation that their efforts of trying to fund the Observatory Park project are in fact paying off. Work on Observatory Park at Turner Farm in Great Falls has begun — starting first with the recent restoration of the roll-top observatory...

China has confirmed that it is to build the world's biggest single ear on the universe. The 500-metre wide radio telescope dish is expected to make thousands of discoveries of fast-spinning "lighthouses" in the universe called pulsars. [url=http://skymania.blogspot.com/2006/11/china...

Spotlight: The heavens in your hand -- Outdoor planetarium opens in upper Bidwell Park The speaker will encourage his guests to lean back, get comfy and look for a galaxy far, far away. But they'll only have to look as close as their fingertips. Chico's new Shoemaker Open Sky Planetarium will b...

The Very Long Baseline Array, a radio astronomy observatory with employees in Socorro, must find funding outside its current source by 2011 to remain open. The array's director expects to succeed in that. The Nation...

The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) reached a significant goal on Aug. 2 when scientists drilled into a seismically active section of the fault approximately two miles below the surface of the Earth. "This is a milestone for SAFOD," says Mark Zoback, a professor of geophysics at...

'Super-LOTIS' Telescope on Kitt Peak Helps Catch Exploding Stars University of Arizona astronomers are using NASA's Swift satellite and the Kitt Peak telescope called "Super-LOTIS" to see stars almost as they explode. Until very recently, astronomers saw supernovae explosions after a...

Prehistoric enclosure discovered at Brodgar Workmen building a new visitor car park for the Ring o' Brodgar (Orkney, Scotland) have unearthed what could be the remains of a huge prehistoric walled enclosure between the Stenness and Harray lochs. Construction work was halted last week...

On August 25, 2003, NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope launched in to space and history by providing the world with the deepest infrared observations ever taken. Four days after its launch the telescope opened its infrared eyes for the first time and immediately performed beyond all expectation...

A new astronomical facility for Peru: transforming a 32m-antenna into a radio telescope There are some big antennae around that are not used anymore, because communication has been replaced by other means. Making telescopes out of them requires expertise which not necessarily available. F...

Aurora University submitted a proposal on Friday to purchase Yerkes Observatory and the surrounding acreage and buildings located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, owned by the University of Chicago. "Our goal is to maximize the long-term educational use of one of America’s significant scie...

In a departure from its core activities of providing networking and IT support to SMEs, Cardiff-based TiGra Networks has set up and automated two astronomical observatories for Space Exploration Limited, based in County Roscommon, Ireland. The project has been developed over the past 18 months...

Purdue University has initiated establishment of a world class real-time remote sensing ground station array, capable of receiving synoptic data from multiple panchromatic, multispectral, hyperspectral and radar sensors, at a wide range of spatial resolutions, aboard current and soon-to-...

If you are visiting Prague over the summer, then remember to check out the Štefánik Observatory on Petřín Hill which is holding an exhibition on Prague monuments connected to astronomy. "There are some monuments which are, maybe surprisingly, bound to astronomy or astronomical sym...

The Allied Defence Group, Inc. (Amex: ADG) announces the receipt of two follow-on contract awards from Bigelow Aerospace. The new orders are for SeaSpace's 6.1-meter AXYOM 3-axis tracking antennas. The SeaSpace AXYOM Model 50 provides a very high performance, and economical solution, for...

Seattle University houses a resident unknown to most of its students. Up a few steep flights of stairs in the Bannan Centre for Science and Engineering and through a locked door sits an astronomy observation point worth around $70,000 at the time of its creation. The tower offers a 360 degree view of C...

The Libreville tracking station in Gabon, west coast of Africa, is used as a downrange tracking Station for the European Space Agency Launches from Kourou, French Guiana. Latitude (deg): 0.35234N Longitude (...

The Malindi 10m antenna S-band station in Kenya is part of the ESA’s network operated in support of the Ariane launches, as well as s/c tracking. The Station was upgraded in November 2004 (baseband), and is operated in cooperation with the University of Rome (Italy). [img]http://static.fl...

Ascension Island is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean. An ESA station was built there in 1991, as the NASA station providing support to Ariane launches was about to be closed. The United States maintains a GPS monitor station and missile tracking sites on the island. [img]http://static....

Friends of the Bracewell Observatory Association have organised an effort to rescue the Bracewell Radio Astronomy Observatory from demolition at Stanford in the San Francisco Bay Area. The telescope consi...

A circle henge has been uncovered by archaeologists in Cornwall (England). The 5,000 year-old site was discovered during work on the A30 bypass at Goss Moor, between Indian Queens and Bodmin, and is the first of its kind found in the region. The 10-metre diameter site at Deep Tye Farm has excited arch...

Archaeologists in northern China have reportedly found one of the world's oldest observatories. The remains, discovered near the city of Linfen in Shanxi province, are thought to be about 4,100 years old. Wang Shouguan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the...

Podcasts about the science and technology taking place at the W. M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii. October 2005 "Violence in the Young Universe" Dr. Charles Steidel of the California Institute of Technology talks about an exciting time in our Universe, marked w...

The US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station Celebrates it`s First Half Century. The U.S. Naval Observatory performs an essential scientific role for the United States, the Navy, and the US Department of Defence. Its mission includes determining the positions and motions of the Earth, Sun, M...

The University of Arizona's Steward Observatory Mirror Lab is pre-firing its huge spinning furnace and inspecting tons of glass for casting a first 8.4-meter diameter mirror for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT). The casting is scheduled for Saturday, July 23. With this milestone...

An intresting new website: "Radio Astronomy is an art and science project which broadcasts sounds intercepted from space live on the internet and on the airwaves. The project is a collaboration between r a d i o q u a l i a, and radio telescopes located throughout the world. To...

Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona, USA. This view shows the University of Arizona's 2.3 metre Steward Observatory Telescope (left) and the Kitt Peak National Observatory's 4.0 metre Nicholas U. Mayall...

The (then) 48" telescope at the Old Melbourne Observatory last Century was relocated to Mount Stromlo Observatory in 1945 and extensively modified. Complete refurbishment after 1990 enabled the 50" telescope (along with highly sophisticated CCD camera equipment and software) to b...

When the Arecibo L-Band Feed Array (ALFA) was installed on a misty April morning two years ago, it promised to bring phenomenal new sensitivity to the Arecibo Observatory. Now, well into an ambitious series of comprehensive sky surveys using the receiver, astronomers say ALFA is delivering s...

The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) has announced that its teammate L-3 Communications Integrated Systems has completed all major physical modifications required for initial flight-testing of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). SOFIA is...

An international science group Tuesday chose Colorado, US, as the site of a $50 million observatory to measure the cosmic rays that continually bombard the Earth. The Pierre Auger Collaboration said the observatory — a 40-mile-by-40-mile array of remotely monitored sensors — will b...

Juan Carlos I, the King of Spain, will preside over the final opening ceremony of the astronomy department's greatest project to date. The University of Florida has partnered with Spain to build the Gran Telescopio Canarias in the Canary Islands, said Vicki Sarajedini, astronomy professor at UF...

Britain's Lovell Telescope will mark 50 year anniversary since the 76-metre University of Manchester dish, based in Jodrell Bank, was built in 1957. The radio telescope was the first to detect signals from the first satellite, Sputnik 1. The Lovell Telescope Webcam at Jodrell Bank Observato...

South Africa is bidding to host the world's biggest radio-telescope, which will allow astronomers to see back in time to soon after the 'Big Bang' explosion that created the universe. This is the Square Kilometre Array - a R8.5 billion project that could be sited in the Great Karoo near Carna...

The Carl Sagan Solar Observatory now fully operational The Carl Sagan Solar Observatory began regular daily-basis operations this year with two apochromatic 16 cm telescopes with Coronado H-Alpha and Calcium line filters. The observation window of the observatory is from 15 to 00 UTC. Both tele...

There are concerns the visitors' centre at Coonabarabran's Siding Springs Observatory will close at the end of the month. The Australian National University's (ANU) Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics is withdrawing from the centre and had planned to call for expressions of interest...

Title: The Australia Telescope campaign to study southern class I methanol masers Authors: M. A. Voronkov, K. J. Brooks, A. M. Sobolev, S. P. Ellingsen, A. B. Ostrovskii, J. L. Caswell The Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and the Mopra facility have been used to search for new southern clas...

October 27, 2005 After 20 years of planning, developing and constructing, astronomers at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy have finally released the first image captured by the new Large Binocular Telescope, an instrument with a light-gathering power 24 times greater than the Hubble Spa...

Giant mirror will boldly go to explore galaxies: At the Tuorla Observatory in Piikkiö, near Turku, Finland, most of the last eight months have been spent in polishing the world's largest space mirror, 3.5 metres in diameter. In February 2007, the mirror will be launched with an Ariane-5 r...

Title: The Cosmic Foreground Explorer (COFE): A balloon-borne microwave polarimeter to characterise polarised foregrounds Authors: Rodrigo Leonardi, Brian Williams, Marco Bersanelli, Ivan Ferreira, Philip M. Lubin, Peter R. Meinhold, Hugh O'Neill, Nathan C. Stebor, Fabrizio Villa, Thyr...

WIYN telescope to get billion-pixel camera The number of larger-aperture telescopes is growing, but size isn't all that matters in a research telescope. Also important is how much of the sky the telescope can clearly image. A telescope used by Indiana University astronomers and their colle...

Iridium® Satellite LLC announces plans to open a new telemetry, tracking and command/control (TTAC) earth station in Norway. The TTAC opening is part of a continuous improvement plan to enhance Iridium's industry-leading constellation reliability and global mobile satellite communic...

The Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) is an innovative design for a wide-field imaging facility being developed at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy. By using four comparatively small telescopes, each with a 3-degree diameter field...

ESO, the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, is taking an important step towards the realisation of a new, giant telescope for Europe's astronomers, by creating the ESO Extremely Large Telescope Project Office. It will be headed by Jason Spyromilio, for...

A 17-story monster of a telescope is being assembled atop of the 15,000-foot La Negra dormant volcano. It will probe the origins of the universe with an antenna dish the size of a baseball infield. It looks like a space-age windmill, with two U-shaped steel arms to hold up a giant satell...

Jodrell Bank has been named as the winner of the BBC's online competition to find the UK's greatest 'Unsung Landmark'. The contest asked visitors to the BBC website to choose their favourite from eight landmarks nominated by the public and selected from an earlier regional round of voting. The...

The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) project celebrates the inauguration of its outstanding 12-m telescope, located on the 5100m high Chajnantor plateau in the Atacama Desert (Chile). The official inauguration of the APEX telescope will start in San Pedro de Atacama on Septem...

A novel telescope that will aid the understanding of the early universe is moving closer to full-scale construction thanks to a $4.9 million award from the National Science Foundation to a U.S. consortium led by MIT. The Mileura Widefield Array - Low Frequency Demonstrator (LFD), which is bei...

Chinese scientists on Monday completed the main part of the radio telescope which will serve China's moon-probe project scheduled for launch in 2007. The antenna measures 40 metres in diameter, and weighs 400 tons. It's located in southwest China's Yunnan Province and is the country's secon...

The world's flagship solar probe, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), is celebrating ten years in space on 2nd December. Scientists are gathering at CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory on the annive...

NASA engineers successfully suppressed the blinding light of three stars, including the well-known Vega, by 100 times using the Keck Observatory in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. This breakthrough will enable scientists to detect the dim dust disks around stars, where planets might be forming. Normally th...

The Clark telescope at the McCormick Observatory at the University of Virginia will be undergoing a small but crucial renovation soon -- the polishing of the lens that has scanned the stars for more than 100 years. Robert and Rose Capon donated $20,000 for the renovation of the 32½-foot...

Refurbishment of Carter Observatory Carter Observatory closed its doors to the public on May 3 for several months, while it is given a major refurbishment. The refurbishment will be in two parts, the renovation of the building and the making of new displays. The historic exterior of the building wi...

The Corot Space Telescope has completed its electromagnetic compatibility and vibration testing successfully and remains on schedule for launch this October. The mini-satellite, carries a 1.1-meter telescope equipped with a 4-CCD wide-field camera. It is expected observe at least...

Russia is to launch a special satellite this year in search for extraterrestrial civilisations in remote galaxies. The Spektr R (Spectrum-Roentgen) x-ray satellite to be launched later this will carry a 20-metre antenna for the study of galaxies and extraterrestrial civilisations. "[i...

STATUS REPORT: NASA Hubble Space Telescope Daily Report #4123Date Released: Tuesday, May 30, 2006OBSERVATIONS SCHEDULEDNICMOS 8791NICMOS Post-SAA calibration - CR Persistence Part 2A new procedure proposed to alleviate the CR-persistence problem of NICMOS. Dark frames will be obtained im...

In 1996, the Isle Of Man Astronomical Society purchased 4½ acres of land with a view to building an observatory. The site is an excellent one for astronomical observation, with good, dark skies, and an elevation of 195 metres above sea level. Construction of the observatory began in April 1999. [url...

A robotic telescope with a 24-inch diameter main mirror and Ritchey-Chrtien optics was built for OSU by Optical Guidance Systems, Inc., and installed the week of February 915, 2007. It is the largest, most modern telescope in Oklahoma. It was funded by a $231,000 grant from the Air Force Office of Sc...

At an amazing 3.571 metres, the Sphinx observatory at Swiss Alps is the highest-altitude construction in Europe. The Sphinx building and observation terrace stand 117 metres above the Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe . On 13 December 2001 UNESCO declared the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn area the f...

New Wide Field Near-Infrared Imager for ESO's Very Large Telescope Europe's flagship ground-based astronomical facility, the ESO VLT, has been equipped with a new 'eye' to study the Universe. Working in the near-infrared, the new instrument - dubbed HAWK-I - covers about 1/10th the area of the Fu...

Physicists at nearly a dozen research institutions, including New York University, have discovered evidence for very high-energy gamma rays emitting from the Milky Way, marking the highest energies ever detected from the galactic equator. Their findings, published in the December 16th issue...

The Swift satellite, is pinpointing the location of distant enigmatic flashes, called gamma-ray bursts, that appear to signal the births of black holes. The Swift satellite is named after the nimble bird, bec...

Mount John University Observatory, New Zealand, is situated at an altitude of 1,031 metres on Mount John at the northern end of the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. The observatory consists of four telescopes: two 0.6m, one 1.0m, and a 1.8m 'MOA Telescope'. The nearest popula...

Kane'ohe observatory to be dedicated With the completion of the observatory, which was funded primarily by private donors and will be dedicated on Friday in a private ceremony, the college is now looking at establishing an endowment fund to help with maintenance and improvement costs. [url=http...

There has been an Observatory associated with Glasgow University since 1757, and we presently occupy two sites. The main observatory ('Acre Road') is close to the Garscube Estate on the outskirts of the city. Our outstation ('Cochno', housing the big 20 inch Grubb Parsons telescope) is located fu...

Title: KM3NeT: A Next Generation Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea Authors: A. Kappes (University Erlangen-Nuremberg), for the KM3NeT Consortium To complement the IceCube neutrino telescope currently under construction at the South Pole, the three Mediterranean neutrino telesc...

To reach the bottom of the world, Zhu Zhenxi first had to run and climb his way to the top. Next weekend Sydney astronomers will wave goodbye to a robot-controlled observatory destined for one of the calmest and coldest places on earth: a desolate Antarctic plateau 4100 metres above sea level. Built...

Eskdalemuir Observatory is situated in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is on a rising shoulder of open moorland in the upper part of the valley of the river White Esk. It is surrounded by young conifer forests with hills rising to nearly 700 m to the NW. The observatory is 100 km from Edinburgh and 2...

AMUNDSEN-SCOTT STATION, Antarctica - Anywhere on Earth this would be a big telescope, as high as a seven-story building, with a main mirror measuring 32 1/2 feet across. But here at the South Pole, it seems especially large, looming over a barren plain of ice that gets colder than anywhere else on th...

High Energy Vision: The Chandra X-ray Observatory Click to Play | View Details

A natural preservation plan is threatening the Rattlesnake Mountain observatory. The Energy Department notified 12 agencies Friday to remove structures from the mountain northwest of Richland. Most are telecommunication towers, but one is the observatory of the Alliance for the Advancement...

Lick Observatory: Over 100 Years of Discovery Click to Play | View Details

Frisco Peak offers a favourable place to study the sky The University of Utah soon will have a presence on a narrow, remote Beaver County mountaintop where scientists can peer deep into the universe spread across a diamond-studded night sky. With the naked eye, "you can see at least 10,000 star...

The observatory is located 2 kilometres from central Madonna di Campiglio, Italy. The observatory has a Ritchey Chretien A&M 16" f/8 Astrositall Star Instruments optics, carbon tubes truss design, all CNC aluminium and stainless. The telescope is fully automatic thanks to the solid...

The exhibition Hong Kong ObservatoryWeathering the Storms for 125 Years to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Hong Kong Observatory was officially launched on 22 July. It will be open to the public in the main lobby of the Hong Kong Museu...

China on Monday broke ground on construction of its largest astronomical observation station in Yao'an County in the southwest Yunnan Province. The station, scheduled to be complete by 2010, is in Xihuling (Westlake Hill). Following an assessment, CAS experts found Yao'an fulfilled all the req...

Tests have been completed on China's Schmidt telescope, which is designed to detect near-earth objects (NEO) that could threaten the planet. The telescope, measuring one meter in diameter, was tested by scientists at the [url=http://www.pmo.ac.cn/English/english1.htm]Mount Zijin Obse...

Mauna Kea's summit is short one telescope: its first. The first telescope to be placed atop the volcano, in 1968, has been retired and removed, to make way for a new, larger telescope for UH-Hilo astronomy faculty and students. [url=http://starbulletin.com/2008/08/24/news/story07.html]Rea...

Interview: The alien hunter Watch a video about the Allen Telescope Array, the new telescope being used to hunt aliens Read more

Case Western Reserve University has sold its Nassau Observatory in Geauga County because too much light in the area made it difficult to do research at night. The 281-acre observatory on Clay Street in Montville Township was purchased by the Geauga Park District to become part of the new Observator...

Amateur Oregon astronomers build their own telescope, which will be accessible remotely Deep in Oregon's coastal foothills, where stars splatter the sky like freckles, amateur astronomers are closing in on a dream three decades old. To understand their mission, drive west of Portland, through...

The Big Sky Astronomical Society will be holding the grand opening celebration of their new observatory on Saturday, October 18, 2008. Read more

This Friday, May 5, astronomers from the University of Maryland, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the California Institute of Technology will dedicate the world's most powerful millimetre-wave-length radio telescope. Formed...

The Harvard College Observatory, home to half a million glass photographic plates of the night sky from over 100 years of observations, is currently in the midst of one of the greatest preservation efforts in astronom...

The Guizhou Provincial Development and Reform Commission on Monday announced that it will launch the world's largest single-aperture spherical radio telescope as one of the state's key sci-tech infrastructure projects in the Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in south Guizhou Province. The...

The first colour images taken by the largest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere - some of constellations as distant as 10 000 million light years - were revealed on Thursday by the astronomy team responsible for the Southern African Large Telescope (Salt) located near the chilly...

Solar Telescope Reaches 120,000 Feet on Jumbo-Jet-Sized Balloon In a landmark test flight, the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and a team of research partners this month successfully launched a solar telescope to an altitude of 120,000 feet, borne by a balloon larger than a Boein...

Title: Ukrainian Synchronous Network of small Internet Telescopes as rapid action instrument for transient objects Authors: B.E. Zhilyaev, M.V. Andreev, Ya.O. Romanyuk, A.V. Sergeev, V.K. Tarady UNIT (The Ukrainian synchronous Network of small Internet Telescopes) is a system of automated...

Florida Tech has the state's largest research telescope, a 32-inch, computer driven device installed this week on the F.W. Olin Physical Science Building. The new telescope was installed Thursday at Florida Tech's Melbourne campus, Florida Today reported. The device, which cost $650,000, wil...

Title: The Baikal Neutrino Telescope: Selected Physics Results Authors: R. Wischnewski, for the BAIKAL Collaboration We present results on searches for exotic particles (relativistic magnetic monopoles and WIMPs) and for UHE neutrinos, obtained with the Baikal neutrino telescope NT200. [u...

New Sutherland telescope under construction A new telescope specially geared to help learners is under construction at Sutherland in the Northern Cape. The South African Astronomy Observatory says 40% of the telescope's time will be devoted to helping learners in the Southern Hemisphere - via t...

Keele Universitys observatory is set to be restored in a £700,000 project to create a top visitor attraction and promote astronomy and the physical sciences to students and the community. The University plans to add new equipment, demonstrations, simulations and exhibition space to make the Ob...

The dazzling lights have forced an astronomy laboratory in Shanghai, to relocate to escape light pollution that has made it difficult to scan the night sky. The Optical Astronomy Laboratory of Shanghai Observatory now plans to shift to the neighbouring Zhejiang province to establish China's fir...

First Light for Gamma-Ray Burst Chaser at La Silla A new instrument has seen First Light at the ESO La Silla Observatory. Equipping the 2.2-m MPI/ESO telescope, GROND takes images simultaneously in seven colours. It will be mostly used to determine distances of gamma-ray bursts. Taking images in d...

An archaeological dig in Cambridge has uncovered surprising ancient remains and the foundations of the world's largest telescope of the late Victorian era. Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge Archaeological Unit, recently working at the site of the new Kavli Institute for Cosmol...

A mammoth MIT antenna installed in 1957 as the first radar system to conduct space surveillance (it observed the Sputnik satellite) is poised for many more years of key observations thanks to a recently completed renovation. Lincoln Laboratory's Millstone Hill Radar (MHR) antenna is one of the wo...

Title: The Camera of the MAGIC-II Telescope Authors: C.C. Hsu, A. Dettlaff, D. Fink, F. Goebel, W. Haberer, J. Hose, R. Maier, R. Mirzoyan, W. Pimpl, O. Reimann, A. Rudert, P. Sawallisch, J. Schlammer, S. Schmidl, A. Stipp, M. Teshima The MAGIC 17m diameter Cherenkov telescope will be upgraded with...

The PRIMA instrument of the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) recently saw "first light" at its new home atop Cerro Paranal in Chile. When fully operational, PRIMA will boost the capabilities of the VLTI to see sources much fainter than any previous interferometers, and e...

New observatory opened at the Babur park in the city of Andijan. It was created by the Astronomy Institute of the Uzbekistan Science Academy in cooperation with the International Babur Foundation and Andijan State University. [url=http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=59831]Read mor...

Meter-Class Autonomous Telescope for Orbital Debris Research NASA/JSC plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the following Commercial item/services: The Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) at the National Aeronautical Space Administration Johnson Space Center (NASA/JSC), in Hou...

A recently built telescope on Tenerife will observe eruptive events in the solar chromosphere and help to gain physical insights into the underlying triggering mechanisms. Read more

An international project to make the world's most productive ground-based telescope 10 times more capable has reached its halfway mark and is on schedule to provide astronomers with an extremely powerful new tool for exploring the Universe. The National Science Foundation's Very Large Array (V...

Title: APOLLO: the Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation: Instrument Description and First Detections Authors: T.W. Murphy, Jr., E.G. Adelberger, J.B.R. Battat, L.N. Carey, C.D. Hoyle, P. LeBlanc, E.L. Michelsen, K. Nordtvedt, A.E. Orin, J.D. Strasburg, C.W. Stubbs, H.E....

In an important milestone, New Mexico Tech's largest, world-class telescope is in full operation, and running on funds from the university and research awards rather than federal construction money. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory's 2.4-meter telescope officially moved from the constructi...

The Kielder Observatory is a new astronomical facility for the north of England. Kielder, Hexham, Northumberland, UK Permanent telescopes: Meade LX 200 14 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with built-in GPS and motor drives, mounted on equatorial wedge, wired for computer connection in war...

The universe and how it began... Scientists in Wales are hoping their research will help reveal information about the origins of the universe. Professor Bangalore Sathyaprakash of Cardiff University said he and his team were in the early stages of work which could help unlock its secrets. [url=ht...

Are you interested in astronomy? If so, mark your calendar for one of the Evenings of Observing at The Bank of Kentucky Observatory at Thomas More College. Each evening will include a brief talk in the Science Lecture Hall about what you will see in the skies that evening, followed by an opportunity t...

Visitors have an opportunity to see the universe Saturday, Nov. 1 at the Warren Rupp Observatory. The excitement of staring into space to visit the galaxies, black holes, stars, planets or the solar system is something that can be shared by the entire family at no charge. Public nights are held on the...

Observatory atop Mont Mégantic has a strong attraction for stargazers Starry skies are a star attraction of this remote corner of Quebec by the Maine woods, far from night sky glow that blots them out in settled areas. Seizing on the angle, Mégantic region's tourist guide bears a Reach for the Stars s...

Cardiff University School of Physics and Astronomy has unveiled a new large optical telescope for use by students and the public. The Cardiff Half-metre Newise Telescope has enormous capability for carrying out astronomy, even through the bright night skies of Cardiff. [url=http://www.newsw...

If you need something to do on Saturday night, take a trip to the Eastern Iowa Observatory and Learning Centre near Mt. Vernon. At 7:30 a great talk will commence from Brent Studer (a Cedar Amateur Astronomer and Kirkwood professor). [url=http://blog.case.edu/case-news/2008/10/22/sundial]R...

Literally, things are looking up at UMKC's Warkoczewski Observatory atop Royall Hall. For the past three years, members of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City (ASKC) have been staffing the observatory. [url=http://media.www.unews.com/media/storage/paper274/news/2008/10/20/News...

It may have been the first major construction project to be cancelled by a NSW government. In 1801, 13 years after the First Fleet's arrival, fears for the security of the infant colony were rising. So in 1804 work began on Fort Phillip. To stand on what was then Windmill Hill, the township's highest po...

Cardiff researchers are helping to design a revolutionary Einstein Telescope that aims to see right back in time as far back as the Big Bang. They believe the telescope would make it possible to measure distance and time between cosmic forces such as black holes, far more accurately than ever before...

The Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork has scooped a second prestigious award for its stunning Cosmos at the Castle digital exhibition. The observatory scooped the Best Digital Animation Award at the 2008 Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI) awards ceremony, which celebrates the latest in...

Radio telescope launch a milestone in New Zealand's scientific and educational history Researchers will be able to probe the secrets of deep space when AUT University's radio telescope launches on Wednesday October 8. Situated in a radio-quiet valley near Warkworth, north of Auckland, the $1 mi...

George Observatory Celebrates 8th Annual Astronomy Day On Saturday Budding astronomers and skilled stargazers alike can enjoy Astronomy Day 2008 on Saturday at the George Observatory. Located at Brazos Bend State Park, the observatory activities begin at 3 p.m. and continue through 10:30 p.m....

The detailed design for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) developed by a U.S.-Canadian team is capable of delivering on the full promise of its enormous light-collecting area, according to the findings of an independent panel of experts. With the TMT, astronomers will be able to analyse...

James Clerk Maxwell Telescope Begins Legacy Survey of the Submillimetre Sky A new survey of the universe is underway at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), on the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, which will give astronomers a new perspective on the origins of the planets, stars, galaxies and the U...

3D view of Palomar's 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope See more

This fall, Lakehead University students are getting out of the classroom and into the heavens. For the first time, the Department of Physics will help students develop hands-on skills in observational astronomy. The course, taught by Lakehead Engineering professor Dr. Lionel Catalan, and Ran...

Pollution Telescope Sees First Light A new telescope to study light pollution over the City of Armagh took its first pictures of the sky from the roof of the Armagh Observatory on Tuesday October 7th. The telescope will check that the night sky is getting darker as the city's efforts to reduce light po...

Star-gazers can see clearly now, thanks to some new lighting near their Doncaster observatory. Members of the Doncaster Astronomical Society have been struggling to plot the planets and scan the stars because of the glare of bright street lighting. Now Doncaster Council has installed nine cut-o...

Astronomical Society of the Desert members and guests will learn about the Goat Mountain Observatory at the society's lecture meeting at 7 p.m. Friday. Read more

The University of Montevallo will break ground on a future residence hall and dedicate a new observatory Thursday. Both events are part of the 112th Founders' Day at Montevallo. The James Wylie Shepherd Observatory will be dedicated Thursday. [url=http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/new...

Athenians can turn their eyes heavenward again - the University of Georgia's 24-inch telescope has been repaired, thanks to a handful of donors who came up with $500 to buy a replacement part. University astronomers soon can resume a full schedule of monthly open houses, when anyone interested can...

The UMass Dartmouth Observatory and the Astronomical Society of Southern New England (ASSNE) will celebrate Astronomy Day at the campus observatory beginning at 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4. The event is open to the public. [url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/mattapoisett/news/x1424438379/UMa...

To reduce the uncertainty about the sighting of the crescent Kashmir University (KU) is installing a powerful telescope at Gulmarg so as to witness various celestial events, besides tracking the moon which may help in near future to trace this illustrious crescent. [url=http://www.risingkash...

The David Dunlap Observatory (DDO) is a large astronomical observatory site for the University of Toronto, located just north of the city in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Its primary instrument is a 74 inch (1.88 m) reflector telescope, at one time the second largest telescope in the world, and still the...

The Holcomb Observatory at Butler University has opened for its fall season of telescope viewing and planetarium shows. It's a fun and budget-friendly way to spend the evening! Source

The observatory celebrated the 10th anniversary of the discovery of 11739 Baton Rouge at a small party Saturday evening. The gathering also marked the return of its 20-inch reflector, the telescope which was used to discover the asteroids, after it was sent to Pennsylvania for cleaning and resur...

A freshly built observatory dome houses a high-powered 40-centimetre, mirrored telescope. One day soon, wine sippers will be able to gaze at the stars. The automated telescope -- lent to Saunders by a friend -- will eventually allow users to control it through the Internet. Saunders said Calamus i...

Lowell Observatory millionth visitor Last month, Lowell Observatory celebrated one million visitors since 1994, and held an event in honour of the Steele Visitor Centre. Visitors were welcomed to Lowell Observatory at half -priced admission, and participated in various raffles with prizes su...

Wanted: Site for gazing up at the stars Dudley Observatory wants to put telescope up for public viewing Read more

Davis Halls observatory offers much to students interested in celestial objects beyond campus. The observatorys staff assists visitors in finding all types of outer space interests from nebulas and galaxies to constellations and planets. The dome-like area includes a 14-inch reflector teles...

The University Lowbrow Astronomers run the 24"; McMath-Hulbert optical telescope located at Peach Mountain (part of Stinchfield Woods) in Dexter, Michigan. Today, the radio telescope is offering its annual public open house. [url=http://www.blogsmonroe.com/expatriate/?p=2141]Re...

The observatory was built in the early 1950's on the peak of a hill close to Haenertsburg - with the words "Erno Star House 1955" above the door. Read more

Researchers from the Kumanovo Museum are intensely studying the megalithic observatory at the ancient Kokino site in north-eastern Macedonia Read more

The Southland observatory faces an uncertain future, with the building expected to be removed if a proposed museum extension goes ahead. Read more Southland Observatory is situated on the western side of the Southla...

The Planetarium and Observatory are located on the popular Wynyard Woodland Park (formerly the Castle Eden Walkway Country Park) near Thorpe Thewles, Stockton-on-Tees, Teesside in the North-East of England. The park is just outsi...

Seeing stars at the Queens Observatory This Autumn, why not take on a hobby of astronomical proportions? Read more

The Ladd Observatory is an astronomical observatory of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, USA. Read more Latitude: 41°5020N, Longitude: 71°2357W

New Jersey Institute of Technology physics professor Andrew Gerrard hopes by the end of October to be able to peer through what will be the second largest optical telescope east of Texas. Under his direction, a 1.2-meter diameter, fully-steerable Itek optical telescope will soon be installed far...

Western Nevada College celebrates the fifth anniversary of its Jack C. Davis Observatory on Sept. 20, with a star party and free lecture by a NASA scientist. Dana Backman will speak about how planets are formed at the annual Harlow Shapley Lecture offered by the American Astronomical Society. It be...

Optical techniques are a a passion of mine: but this is a good story about the amazing Birr telescope in Ireland, where IES helped by completing the control system refurbishment This historical scientific landmark is located in County Offaly, in the heart of Ireland The Birr Telescope reigned for m...

Physics professor Bala Sundaram, chairman of the physics department at the University of Massachusetts, is leading an effort to repair the observatory and, in turn, restore a broken link between the university and the community. [url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/09/1...

The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has initiated the basic reconstruction of an only astrophysical observatory in the country, Nasreddin Tusi Shamakhi observatory. The presidential press-service informed that according to the presidential decree of September 5, taking into account t...

Only recently rediscovered. An ancient site in the port of Qingdao has revealed the oldest known observatory in China. The Chinese Astronomy Society, learned of the finding at its annual convention. Experts point to historical evidence, that the Langya Observatory in east China's Shandong Prov...

Longtime Greenwich resident Anne Burns is the president of the Astronomical Society of Greenwich and reservations manager at the Bruce Museum. She recently sat down with Greenwich Time to talk about the society and the new dome at the Bowman Observatory, on the grounds of Julian Curtiss School, 18...

Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory Open House Saturday, September 27, 2008 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free. The Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO), located near Penticton, BC, Canada, is a world-class facility for science and technology research related to rad...

Efforts to build a sparkling new science centre on the grounds of the nearly 125-year-old Blue Hill Weather Observatory are ready to take flight, provided the state gives the project the go-ahead. The Blue Hill Weather Observatory and Science Centre, the non-profit organisation that operates th...

Daniel Handley is determined to prevent Allegheny Observatory from being forgotten. So he's making a documentary film about the North Side stargazing center where astronomers of yore discovered that Venus is shrouded with clouds and present-day scientists search for clues to planets outside E...

Eclipse inspires homemade observatory revival Russian town to rehab rickety wooden tower capped with aluminium dome From a garden bursting with roses, violets, burgeoning cabbages and broken furniture in the remote West Siberian town of Barnaul rises a rickety wooden tower capped with an alumi...

Up the long and winding Angeles Crest Highway, past a thicket of tall television antennas, sits what David Jurasevich calls "a monument to astronomy." "So many important discoveries about our universe - they all started right there," Jurasevich says, pointing to a domed wh...

The Junk Bond Observatory is located in Sierra Vista, Arizona in the Sonoran Desert. * Longitude: 110 degrees, 12.24 minutes West * Latitude: 31 degrees, 28.51 minutes North * Elevation: 4425 feet (1349 meters) Established in 1996, observer David Healy began by using a Celestron 14 SCT and a Meade1...