The Stephens Observatory is located atop the Carnegie Science Building at
Bates College
Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...
in
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is List of cities in Maine, the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County, Maine, Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, Maine, August ...
. It houses a Newtonian
reflecting telescope
A reflecting telescope (also called a reflector) is a telescope that uses a single or a combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century by Isaac Newton as an alternati ...
, built by Roscoe G. Stephens of
Kennebunk, Maine
Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 11,536 at the 2020 census (The population does not include Kennebunkport, a separate town). Kennebunk is home to several beaches, the Rachel Carson National Wildlife R ...
, and donated to the College in 1929. It is used mainly as a teaching facility for upper-level
astronomy
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
classes. The observatory has a modern tracking system and electronic drive mechanism.
History
Bates' observatory was initially going to be built on top of nearby
Mount David
Mount David (also known as Mount Davis, Davis Mountain, and David's Mountain) is a rocky summit in Lewiston, Maine, on the campus of Bates College in back of Rand Hall. It is one of the highest points in Lewiston at 381 feet and offers views of the ...
in Lewiston. In the 1860s, ''Bates Catalogues'' first mentioned plans to build an observatory on the outcropping. The land encompassing Mount David was given by the heirs of David Davis in the 1800s to be used specifically for an observatory. ''
Bates Student
''The Bates Student'', established in 1873, is the newspaper of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, run entirely by students. It is one of the oldest continuously-published college weeklies in the United States and claims to be the oldest co-ed coll ...
'' articles from the 1870s–1910s and ''Catalogues'' continuously refer to plans to build an observatory at Bates. Many of these articles featured pictures of the future observatory. Due to financial constraints, it was not until 1929 that the Stephens Observatory was actually completed on Carnegie Science Building. Philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
donated the initial funds for the building.
See also
*
List of astronomical 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
*Alfred Williams Anthony, ''Bates College and Its Background'' (Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1936).
External links
*
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Astronomical observatories in Maine Main
Main may refer to:
Geography
* Main River (disambiguation)
**Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany
* Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province
*"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centu ...
Bates College
Educational buildings in Lewiston, Maine