The Kevola Observatory is located in Kevola in
Paimio in South-Western
Finland, some 35 km east from the city of
Turku. The
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
is currently owned by ''Turun Ursa ry'', a local astronomical association operating in Turku area. The buildings of the observatory include an observatory dome, a
zenith observatory, and a house for recording observations.
Kevola Observatory has code
064 in the
IAU/MPC observatory list. The main-belt asteroid
1540 Kevola
1540 Kevola, provisional designation , is a dark background asteroid from the outer regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 42 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 16 November 1938, by astronomer Liisi Oterma at the Iso-Heikkilä Obse ...
was named after the observatory.
History
The observatory was built in 1963 by ''Tähtitieteellis-optillinen seura'' (Astronomy-Optical Society) on a small hill on lands of the home farm of
Hilkka Rantaseppä-Helenius
Hilkka Rantaseppä-Helenius (1925–1975) was a Finnish astronomer.
Rantaseppä-Helenius began studying mathematics in hopes of becoming a teacher. Finnish astronomer Yrjö Väisälä inspired her to become an astronomer instead. Helenius, as a ...
. She worked at the time as an observer at
Tuorla Observatory of
University of Turku. The association was founded by
Yrjö Väisälä,
Liisi Oterma
Liisi Oterma (; 6 January 1915 – 4 April 2001) was a Finnish astronomer, the first woman to get a Ph.D. degree in astronomy in Finland.
She studied mathematics and astronomy at the University of Turku, and soon became Yrjö Väisälä's as ...
, Hilkka Rantaseppä-Helenius, and other astronomers working at University of Turku.
The association was terminated in 1983. In 1986 the observatory building was passed to Turun Ursa, also founded by Yrjö Väisälä. The land of the observatory was rented from a local farmer until 2002, when Turun Ursa received a grant from ''Viljo, Yrjö ja Kalle Väisälän rahasto'' (Viljo, Yrjö and Kalle Väisälä Fund) to purchase the land.
Astronomical instruments
The observatory dome houses a 50 cm anastigmatic
Schmidt-Väisälä camera, which was earlier located at
Iso-Heikkilä Observatory
Iso-Heikkilä Observatory ( fi, Iso-Heikkilän tähtitorni, sv, Storheikkilä observatorium) is an amateur astronomical observatory used by a local amateur astronomical association, Turun Ursa ry in the Iso-Heikkilä district of Turku, Finl ...
, where it was used in an asteroid hunt to find 807 minor
planets and 7
comets. The telescope has a 50 cm corrector menisculus and a 60 cm primary mirror with focal length of 1031 mm. It has a 6.7 degree field of view on 12x12 cm film plates, making it ideal for searching asteroids. Attached to the main telescope are two guide telescopes: an 18 cm and an 8 cm refractor.
The zenith tower originally housed a 250/5150 mm
zenith telescope
A zenith telescope is a type of telescope that is designed to point straight up at or near the zenith. They are used for precision measurement of star positions, to simplify telescope construction, or both.
A classic zenith telescope, also know ...
that was used to observe the movements of the
axis of the
earth. After the ''Tähtitieteellis-optillinen seura'' was ended, the telescope was moved to Tuorla Observatory. As the zenith tower does not have a dome but a roof that opens to the sides, and has therefore little use for normal observations, it remains unused.
See also
*
List of astronomical observatories
*
List of observatory codes
*
Tuorla Observatory
References
External links
Women of Learning Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kevola Observatory
Astronomical observatories in Finland
Paimio
Buildings and structures in Southwest Finland
Astronomy-optics society