Rothney Astrophysical Observatory
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Rothney Astrophysical Observatory
The Rothney Astrophysical Observatory (RAO) is an astronomical observatory located near the hamlet of Priddis, Alberta, Canada, about southwest of Calgary. The observatory is owned and operated by the University of Calgary (UC), and was dedicated in 1972. The facility is used for research, undergraduate and graduate teaching, and public outreach. Research performed at the RAO included a variable star search program, follow-up observations of variable star discoveries, and detailed investigation of binary stars. An outstanding minor planet search program was also performed with comet discoveries by Rob Cardinal. The RAO now participates in many follow-up observation programs, including the Quark Nova project. Telescopes * The A.R. Cross Telescope (ARCT) is a Ritchey-Chrétien design dedicated in 1987. It is attached to an unusual altitude-altitude (alt-alt) mount which allows greater access to northern skies than other mounts. It was originally equipped with metal mir ...
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University Of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being instituted into a separate, autonomous university in 1966. It is composed of 14 faculties and over 85 research institutes and centres. The main campus is located in the northwest quadrant of the city near the Bow River and a smaller south campus is located in the city centre. The main campus houses most of the research facilities and works with provincial and federal research and regulatory agencies, several of which are housed next to the campus such as the Geological Survey of Canada. The main campus covers approximately . A member of the U15, the University of Calgary is also one of Canada's top research universities (based on the number of Canada Research Chairs). The university has a sponsored research revenue of $380.4 million, wi ...
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Canadian Forces Base
A Canadian Forces base or CFB (french: links=no, base des Forces canadiennes, BFC) is a military installation of the Canadian Armed Forces. For a facility to qualify as a Canadian Forces base, it must station one or more major units (e.g., army regiments, navy ships, air force wings). Minor installations are named Canadian Forces station or CFS (french: links=no, station des Forces canadiennes, SFC). A Canadian Forces station could host a single minor unit (e.g., an early-warning radar station). Many of these facilities are now decommissioned for administrative purposes and function as detachments of a larger Canadian Forces base nearby. Current Canadian Army Note: Primary lodger units at Canadian Forces Bases used by the Canadian Army are regiments of the Canadian Army. Alberta: * CFB Edmonton * CFB Suffield * CFB Wainwright Manitoba: * CFB Shilo New Brunswick: * CFB Gagetown Ontario: * CFB Kingston * CFB Borden * CFB Petawawa Quebec: * CFB Montreal * CFB Valcartier ...
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Astronomical Observatories In Canada
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history made methodical observations of the night sky. These include the Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Egyptians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas. In the past, astronomy included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars. Nowadays, professional ...
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List Of Astronomical Observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in operation. While other sciences, such as volcanology and meteorology, also use facilities called observatories for research and observations, this list is limited to observatories that are used to observe celestial objects. Astronomical observatories are mainly divided into four categories: space-based, airborne, ground-based, and underground-based. Many modern telescopes and observatories are located in space to observe astronomical objects in wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that cannot penetrate the Earth's atmosphere (such as ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and gamma rays) and are thus impossible to observe using ground-based telescopes. Being above the atmosphere, these space observatories can also avoid the effects of atmo ...
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List Of Astronomical Observatories In Canada
Alberta *Newbrook Observatory (disused) *Oldman River Observatory, Lethbridge Astronomical Society, Lethbridge *Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, University of Calgary, Priddis, Alberta *Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station (historic site) *Sunridge Observatory, south of Medicine Hat *Telus World of Science (Edmonton), Telus World of Science Edmonton RASC Observatory, Edmonton *Wilson Coulee Observatory, RASC Calgary Centre, De Winton, AlbertaEagle Butte Observatory South of Dunmore British Columbia *Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Penticton *Mount Kobau National Observatory, Mount Kobau (Never built) *University of British Columbia Observatory, Vancouver (Demolished 2010) *Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, Victoria *Gordon MacMillan Southam Observatory, H.R. Macmillan Space Centre, Vancouver *Large Zenith Telescope, University of British Columbia (at Malcolm Knapp Research Forest) (Decommissioned 2014) *Trottier Observatory, Simon ...
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Dominion Astrophysical Observatory
The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill, in Saanich, British Columbia, was completed in 1918 by the Canadian government. The Dominion architect responsible for the building was Edgar Lewis Horwood. The main instrument is the Plaskett telescope, proposed and designed by John S. Plaskett in 1910 with the support of the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research. The observatory has been designated a national historic site of Canada, as it is a world-renowned facility where many discoveries about the nature of the Milky Way were made, and it was one of the world’s main astrophysical research centres until the 1960s. Public programs The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Victoria Centre, which has a long association with the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory and public outreach dating back to 1914, holds free public "star parties" at the DAO on select summer Saturday evenings. These events include solar and nighttime viewing with RA ...
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Eugene Milone
Eugene Frank Milone (born 1939, Bronx, NY) is an American astronomer. He received a bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1961, and a Ph.D. in astronomy from Yale University. After teaching for several years at Gettysburg College where he was assistant professor of Physics, he re-located in 1971 to the University of Calgary, where he served as Director of the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory. Milone has published many technical papers in various areas of astronomical research, particularly specializing in variable stars and photometry and archaeoastronomy Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultur ..., and has served on several professional committees. References External linkshome pageat the University of Calgary 20th-century American astronomers 20th-century C ...
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DFM Engineering
DFM Engineering is an American telescope and optics manufacturer founded in 1979 by Frank Melsheimer in Longmont, Colorado. DFM makes medium size Cassegrain telescopes and their associated systems including telescope optics, control systems, and mounts. A range of pre-designed telescopes are made, as are various custom installations. DFM produces its classical Cassegrain design in various apertures from 16 inches (0.4 m) to 50 inches (1.3 m) and larger. The base DFM 16-inch (40 cm) telescope system cost roughly 94 thousand USD in 2005. DFM produced a 1.6 m solar telescope for the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The United States Navy purchased a 1.3 m (51-inch) DFM telescope for the United States Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station in Arizona, USA. DFM installations include many universities and institutions, including: Alfred University, Appalachian State University, Central Michigan University, Chabot Center, Clay Center-Dexter School, College o ...
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Equatorial Mount
An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that compensates for Earth's rotation by having one rotational axis, the polar axis, parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescopes and cameras. The advantage of an equatorial mount lies in its ability to allow the instrument attached to it to stay fixed on any celestial object with diurnal motion by driving one axis at a constant speed. Such an arrangement is called a sidereal or clock drive. Equatorial mounts achieve this by aligning their rotational axis with the Earth, a process known as polar alignment. Astronomical telescope mounts In astronomical telescope mounts, the equatorial axis (the '' right ascension'') is paired with a second perpendicular axis of motion (known as the '' declination''). The equatorial axis of the mount is often equipped with a motorized "''clock drive''", that rotates that axis one revolution every 23 hours and 56 minutes in exact sync with the appar ...
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United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control. The United States Air Force is a military service branch organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force through the Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force ...
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Cassegrain Telescope
The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to the optical system's primary mirror entrance aperture. This design puts the focal point at a convenient location behind the primary mirror and the convex secondary adds a telephoto effect creating a much longer focal length in a mechanically short system. In a symmetrical Cassegrain both mirrors are aligned about the optical axis, and the primary mirror usually contains a hole in the center, thus permitting the light to reach an eyepiece, a camera, or an image sensor. Alternatively, as in many radio telescopes, the final focus may be in front of the primary. In an asymmetrical Cassegrain, the mirror(s) may be tilted to avoid obscuration of the primary or to avoid the need for a hole in the primary mirror (or both). The classic Cassegrain co ...
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CFB Cold Lake
Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake , abbreviated as CFB Cold Lake, is a Canadian Forces Base in the City of Cold Lake, Alberta. The facility is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is approximately south of the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range (CLAWR), which is used as practicing grounds by CFB Cold Lake's fighter pilots. The base is one of two in the country housing the CF-18 Hornet fighter, the other being CFB Bagotville. The base's primary RCAF lodger unit is 4 Wing, commonly referred to as 4 Wing Cold Lake. Civilian passenger service was available through the Medley passenger terminal on the air base. The regularly scheduled air service between Calgary and the civilian terminal was cancelled in June 2011. Unscheduled civilian air traffic is usually directed to Cold Lake Regional Airport. The facility is named Cold Lake/Group Captain R.W. McNair Airport. It is one of only three military aerodromes in Canada to be named after an individual, Valca ...
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