The Orchard Hill Observatory is an

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 ...

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 ...

located at the highest point on the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

campus. Constructed in 1965, the observatory is a red brick building with a 16-inch

Cassegrain reflector 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 th ...

optical telescope An optical telescope is a telescope that gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct visual inspection, to make a photograph, or to collect data through electro ...

. It is used for several community events.

History

Originally, the observatory was home to a 20" telescope, given to the department by an avid amateur who lived in central Massachusetts. It was a scale model (loosely) of a larger 200" scope. Eventually, a crack was spotted during one of the re- aluminizings of the 20" mirror, and the scope was decommissioned. In the meantime, the department had been granted money—associated with its move from Hasbrouck to the Graduate Research Tower—to buy a small telescope and install it on top of the GRC. The GRC had a small "isolation" pad built onto its roof, which was supposed to be a mount for the scope, accessible via a small open elevator. However, the GRC had terrible noise and gross vibration problems. The isolation pad never worked, and there were too many safety concerns about using the roof of the building for observing. A 16" telescope was later bought from Competition Associates, a racing car company. That scope arrived in 1976, but it was never mounted onto the roof of the GRC due to the aforementioned problems. Instead, it was stored in the basement of Hasbrouck for perhaps 10 years, becoming known as the "Subterranean Telescope". This situation finally led to the 20" being disassembled and the 16" scope being moved to Orchard Hill and installed in the dome there. The 16" was a major improvement in usability. At present, the 20" may still be stored in the Astronomy Research Facility, but the drive was most likely not kept. Special thanks to Professor Thomas Arny for much of the recent history of the facility.

Hours

The observatory does not currently have a regular schedule. It was regularly open for public viewing on Thursday nights until at least 2011. The Five College Astronomy Club, consisting of students belonging to the Five Colleges, utilizes the observatory to host observing nights on clear nights.

Administration

The observatory does not receive any external funding. It is part of the College of Natural Sciences/Astronomy, maintained and operated by the UMass Astronomy Department and supported by members of the Five College Astronomy Club. Comet Holmes 17P 11-7-07

Observations

It is possible to see a variety of astronomical bodies at the observatory. Members of the observatory keep a log online of what they have observed. Some things that have been logged are the double star

Albireo Albireo is a double star designated Beta Cygni (β Cygni, abbreviated Beta Cyg, β Cyg). The International Astronomical Union uses the name "Albireo" specifically for the brightest star in the system. Although designated ' beta', ...

, the

Andromeda Galaxy The Andromeda Galaxy (IPA: ), also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula, is a barred spiral galaxy with the diameter of about approximately from Earth and the nearest large galaxy to the Milky Way. The gala ...

, a dense patch of stars in the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

near Cygnus,

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

with the

Galilean moons The Galilean moons (), or Galilean satellites, are the four largest moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They were first seen by Galileo Galilei in December 1609 or January 1610, and recognized by him as satellites of Jupiter ...

, the

waxing gibbous ''Waxing Gibbous'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Malcolm Middleton, released on 1 June 2009 on Full Time Hobby. Middleton has stated that following the release of this album, and its subsequent tour, he will put his ...

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

, and

Alcor ALCOR (ALGOL Converter, acronym) is an early computer language definition created by the ALCOR Group, a consortium of universities, research institutions and manufacturers in Europe and the United States which was founded in 1959 and which had 60 m ...

and

Mizar Mizar is a second-magnitude star in the handle of the Big Dipper asterism in the constellation of Ursa Major. It has the Bayer designation ζ Ursae Majoris ( Latinised as Zeta Ursae Majoris). It forms a well-known naked eye d ...

References

External links