West Mountain Observatory
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West Mountain Observatory
West Mountain Observatory (WMO) is an astronomical observatory located on West Mountain near the community of West Mountain, Utah United States, about southwest of Provo. The observatory is owned and operated by Brigham Young University (BYU), and opened in 1981 after increasing light pollution reduced the utility of the Orson Pratt Observatory on the BYU campus. The first year of observing with the new 0.9 m telescope included imaging of intrinsic variable stars and high-mass X-ray binaries. Past research topics include light curve analysis of Delta Scuti variable stars and identifying pre-main-sequence stars by searching for H-alpha emitting objects. Telescopes * A reflecting telescope built by DFM Engineering was installed at WMO in 2009. The main dome originally housed a 0.6 m reflector built by Tinsley Laboratories. * A reflector is housed in its own dome on a robotic telescope mount. * A reflector is housed in its own dome on a robotic telescope mount. See also ...
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Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). BYU offers a variety of academic programs including those in the liberal arts, engineering, agriculture, management, physical and mathematical sciences, nursing, and law. It has 186 undergraduate majors, 64 master's programs, and 26 doctoral programs. It is broadly organized into 11 colleges or schools at its main Provo campus, with some colleges and divisions defining their own admission standards. The university also administers two satellite campuses, one in Jerusalem and one in Salt Lake City, while its parent organization the Church Educational System (CES) sponsors sister schools in Hawaii and Idaho. The university is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Almost all BYU students ...
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Hydrogen-alpha
H-alpha (Hα) is a specific deep-red visible spectral line in the Balmer series with a wavelength of 656.28  nm in air and 656.46 nm in vacuum; it occurs when a hydrogen electron falls from its third to second lowest energy level. H-alpha light is the brightest hydrogen line in the visible spectral range. It is important to astronomers as it is emitted by many emission nebulae and can be used to observe features in the Sun's atmosphere, including solar prominences and the chromosphere. Balmer series According to the Bohr model of the atom, electrons exist in quantized energy levels surrounding the atom's nucleus. These energy levels are described by the principal quantum number ''n'' = 1, 2, 3, ... . Electrons may only exist in these states, and may only transit between these states. The set of transitions from ''n'' ≥ 3 to ''n'' = 2 is called the Balmer series and its members are named sequentially by Greek letters: *''n'' = 3 to ''n'' = 2 is called Balmer-alpha or ...
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Astronomical Observatories In Utah
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 a ...
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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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Willard L
Willard may refer to: People * Willard (name) Geography Places in the United States * Willard, Colorado * Willard, Georgia * Willard, Kansas * Willard, Kentucky * Willard, Michigan, a small unincorporated community in Beaver Township, Bay County, Michigan * Willard, Missouri * Willard, New Mexico * Willard, New York * Willard, North Carolina * Willard, Ohio * Willard, Utah * Willard Bay, Utah, a reservoir * South Willard, Utah * Willard, Virginia * Willard, Washington * Willard, Rusk County, Wisconsin, a town * Willard, Clark County, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community * Willards, Maryland Places other than settlements * The Willard InterContinental Washington, a historic hotel in Washington, DC * Willard House (other), several houses * Willard Residential College, a Northwestern University residential hall * J. Willard Marriott Library, at the University of Utah * University of Illinois Willard Airport * Willard Drug Treatment Center, a specialized state p ...
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Telescope Mount
A telescope mount is a mechanical structure which supports a telescope. Telescope mounts are designed to support the mass of the telescope and allow for accurate pointing of the instrument. Many sorts of mounts have been developed over the years, with the majority of effort being put into systems that can track the motion of the fixed stars as the Earth rotates. Fixed mounts Fixed telescope mounts are entirely fixed in one position, such as Zenith telescopes that point only straight up and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Green Bank fixed radio 'horn' built to observe Cassiopeia A. Fixed altitude mounts Fixed-altitude mounts usually have the primary optics fixed at an altitude angle while rotating horizontally (in azimuth). They can cover the whole sky but only observe objects for the short time when that object passes a specific altitude and azimuth. Transit mounts Transit mounts are single axis mounts fixed in azimuth while rotating in altitude, usually orient ...
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Robotic Telescope
A robotic telescope is an astronomical telescope and detector system that makes observations without the intervention of a human. In astronomical disciplines, a telescope qualifies as robotic if it makes those observations without being operated by a human, even if a human has to initiate the observations at the beginning of the night or end them in the morning. It may have software agents using artificial intelligence that assist in various ways such as automatic scheduling. A robotic telescope is distinct from a remote telescope, though an instrument can be both robotic and remote. By 2004, robotic observations accounted for an overwhelming percentage of the published scientific information on asteroid orbits and discoveries, variable star studies, supernova light curves and discoveries, comet orbits and gravitational microlensing observations. All early phase gamma ray burst observations were carried by robotic telescopes. Design Robotic telescopes are complex systems that ...
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Tinsley Laboratories
Tinsley may refer to: People *Tinsley (surname) *Tinsley Mortimer (born 1976), American socialite *Tinsley Ellis (born 1957), American rock and blues musician Places United Kingdom *Tinsley, South Yorkshire, a suburb of Sheffield, England **Tinsley Marshalling Yard, a former railway marshalling yard **Tinsley Motive Power Depot, a former depot **Tinsley railway station, a former station **Tinsley Viaduct, a two-tier road bridge in Sheffield, England; the first of its kind in the UK *Tinsley Green, West Sussex, England *Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre, an immigration removal centre United States * Firebase Tinsley, a military fire support base *Tinsley, Mississippi *Tinsley House (museum), part of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana Court cases *''Tinsley v Milligan'', a 1993 English trusts law case *''Tinsley v. Richmond'', a 1961 United States Supreme Court case *'' Tinsley v. Treat'', 205 U.S. 20 (1907) Other *Dawn Tinsley, a character in the sitcom ''The ...
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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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Reflecting Telescope
A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from severe chromatic aberration. Although reflecting telescopes produce other types of optical aberrations, it is a design that allows for very large diameter objectives. Almost all of the major telescopes used in astronomy research are reflectors. Many variant forms are in use and some employ extra optical elements to improve image quality or place the image in a mechanically advantageous position. Since reflecting telescopes use mirrors, the design is sometimes referred to as a catoptrics, catoptric telescope. From the time of Newton to the 1800s, the mirror itself was made of metal usually speculum metal. This type included Newton's first designs and eve ...
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Pre-main-sequence Star
A pre-main-sequence star (also known as a PMS star and PMS object) is a star in the stage when it has not yet reached the main sequence. Earlier in its life, the object is a protostar that grows by acquiring mass from its surrounding envelope of interstellar dust and gas. After the protostar blows away this envelope, it is optically visible, and appears on the stellar birthline in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. At this point, the star has acquired nearly all of its mass but has not yet started hydrogen burning (i.e. nuclear fusion of hydrogen). The star then contracts, its internal temperature rising until it begins hydrogen burning on the zero age main sequence. This period of contraction is the pre-main sequence stage. An observed PMS object can either be a T Tauri star, if it has fewer than 2 solar masses (), or else a Herbig Ae/Be star, if it has 2 to 8 . Yet more massive stars have no pre-main-sequence stage because they contract too quickly as protostars. By the time th ...
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West Mountain (Utah County, Utah)
West Mountain is a mountain in Utah, United States that is located southwest of the city of Provo, and west of the community of Benjamin. It is home to a radio station tower for KTCE, an FM station licensed to Payson and operating on 92.1 MHz. The mountain is also home to various FM radio translators and an observatory used by students from Brigham Young University (BYU). It can be accessed from a main road that starts near Benjamin. A small census designated place east of the mountain is known as West Mountain as well. Geology West Mountain's highest point is at . The radio station tower sits on the second-highest point on the mountain, about 2 miles north of the true summit. The mountain is on the southern segment of the Wasatch Range, though it is not connected to the main range. The mountain is located on the southern shore of Utah Lake. Radio uses The following are translators and radio stations located on the mountain (in order of frequency): * K202CC-88.3 FM, from p ...
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