R. F. Joyce Observatory is the home

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 ...

of the Canterbury Astronomical Society (CAS) and is situated near

West Melton West Melton is a former mining village in the parish of Brampton Bierlow in South Yorkshire, England. It lies between Wath upon Dearne and Brampton Bierlow, roughly 5 miles north of Rotherham and 5 miles south-east of Barnsley. The village fa ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The observatory is the result of the bequest of R. F. Joyce, a founding member and former President of the CAS. The primary instruments in use are a 16" Meade RCX400, a 14.5"

Cassegrain Cassegrain may refer to * Cassegrain reflector, a design used in telescopes * Cassegrain antenna, a type of parabolic antenna * Cassegrain (crater), on the Moon * a Belgian canned vegetables producer now part of Bonduelle S.A. People : * Guillaume ...

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

, two 11" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, and a 120mm

refractor A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens (optics), lens as its objective (optics), objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptrics, dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope d ...

External links

Canterbury Astronomical Society webpage
{{Astronomical observatories in New Zealand Astronomical observatories in New Zealand