The Morgan–Monroe Observatory, also known as the Morgan–Monroe Station of Goethe Link Observatory, is an

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

owned and operated by

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. It is located in Indiana's Morgan–Monroe State Forest approximately northeast of

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

(USA). It was developed in the 1960s when

light pollution Light pollution is the presence of any unwanted, inappropriate, or excessive artificial Visible spectrum, lighting. In a descriptive sense, the term ''light pollution'' refers to the effects of any poorly implemented lighting sources, during the ...

began to degrade the capabilities of the original Goethe Link Observatory, which Indiana University had used for astronomical research since 1948. The original Boller and Chivens

Cassegrain reflector The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and Antenna (radio), radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, ...

, installed in 1966, was converted in 1989 to an automated system for monitoring

cataclysmic variable star In astronomy, cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) are stars which irregularly increase in brightness by a large factor, then drop back down to a quiescent state. They were initially called novae (), since those with an outburst brightness visible t ...

s called "Roboscope." It is capable of making one or two 4-minute exposures of about 100 objects per clear night. In 1997, an automated 1.25 m f/8 Ritchey–Chrétien reflector called "Spectrabot" was added.

Notes and references

External links

Department of Astronomy
at Indiana University Bloomington {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan-Monroe Observatory Astronomical observatories in Indiana Indiana University Buildings and structures in Monroe County, Indiana

See also

Notes and references

External links