Laws Observatory is the name of three separate
astronomical
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 ...
observatories
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 ...
owned and operated by
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
from 1880 to the present. Named after former University President
Samuel Laws
Samuel Spahr Laws (March 23, 1824 – January 9, 1921) was an American minister, professor, physician, college president, businessman and inventor best known today as the inventor of the Laws Gold Indicator, a predecessor of the ticker tape machi ...
, it is located in
Columbia,
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
(USA).
History
The University of Missouri Observatory was originally built in 1853 near
Academic Hall
Academic Hall was the original main building of the University of Missouri. It was dedicated in 1843 and destroyed by fire in 1892. Academic Hall's six Ionic columns, today known as The Columns, stand on Francis Quadrangle as the most recogniz ...
. The original site is now occupied by the Engineering East building. The observatory was equipped with a 4 1/16 inch Henry Fitz refractor, and it was the first observatory in the western United States.
In 1879, MU offered $500 cash and the Fitz telescope in exchange for a 7½ inch
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
-built equatorial refractor by Merz and Soehne from the failing
Shelby College in
Shelbyville, Kentucky
Shelbyville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Shelby County, Kentucky, Shelby County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,045 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census.
History
Early hist ...
. Shelby College agreed to the exchange, but MU found that it could not afford the transportation and reassembly of the Merz and Soehne telescope along with an adequate facility to house it. University President
Samuel S. Laws stepped in and provided $2,000 of his own money to transport the telescope and begin construction of a new observatory. When the new observatory was constructed, the part that constituted the cone, clock room, and transit room were actually part of the original observatory, and those parts were moved to the new location for the construction of the new Laws Observatory on the north side of the Quadrangle in 1880. An office was added to the building in 1891, and classroom space was added in 1907. An R. Brown Gans-built 4½ inch equatorial refractor was also added to the observatory in 1907. In 1912, a 5-inch Brashear photographic doublet was mounted on the 7½ inch Merz. The observatory was torn down in 1919 to make way for construction of
Neff Hall.
In 1920, the observatory was rebuilt on its third location, which is now the site of the west parking lot of the Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital.
See also
*
List of 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 ...
References
#
External links
Columbia Clear Sky ClockForecasts of observing conditions covering Laws Observatory.
{{Portal bar, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science
Astronomical observatories in Missouri
University of Missouri campus
Demolished buildings and structures in Columbia, Missouri
Buildings and structures demolished in 1919