The Fick Observatory was 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, galaxi ...
observatory owned and operated by
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...
. Located southwest of
Boone, Iowa
Boone ( ) is a city in Des Moines Township, and county seat of Boone County, Iowa, United States.
It is the principal city of the Boone, Iowa Micropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Boone County. This micropolitan statistical ...
, it was named after
Davenport, Iowa, amateur astronomer
Erwin W. Fick. The observatory closed in 2015.
History
Iowa State University’s original telescope and observatory, located northwest of Ames, was donated by the family of Milo Mather of
Clarksville, Iowa, following his death in 1960. Mather was an accomplished amateur astronomer and mechanical engineering graduate (1907) of Iowa State. In 1970, the mirror from his telescope was reconditioned and used in a newly reconfigured telescope, also named after Mather, and installed in the Erwin W. Fick Observatory.
Iowa State built the Fick Observatory southwest of Boone, Iowa, in 1970. The facility was named after Erwin W. Fick (1897–1975), an amateur astronomer and retired member of the U.S. Corps of Engineers from Davenport, Iowa. Though Fick had never been to Ames, let alone graduated from Iowa State, he set up a trust through the ISU Foundation to help support Iowa State’s observatory. New imaging devices, such as the CCD (
charge-coupled device
A charge-coupled device (CCD) is an integrated circuit containing an array of linked, or coupled, capacitors. Under the control of an external circuit, each capacitor can transfer its electric charge to a neighboring capacitor. CCD sensors are a ...
) camera installed in 1990, and the short focal length of the telescope allowed researchers to obtain wide-field views of the sky to very faint limits. Measurements gathered by the Mather telescope could be used to complement data obtained by larger observatories, which often sacrifice wide views for fine detail. Over the years, Iowa State researchers used the Fick Observatory for a wide variety of studies, including stellar radial velocity observations, studies of ring galaxy collisions, and lunar occultation studies.
In 2015, the Erwin W. Fick Observatory closed. It was the last astronomical research observatory operated by a college or university at a dark-sky site in the state of Iowa.
On April 1, 2020, the Observatory and surrounding land (45.31 acres) was sold to Aaron Gillett for the price of $339,870.31 sadly closing the observatory for good.
Equipment
* 0.6 meter Cassegrain reflector, Mather telescope
* 8.5-meter parabolic dish antenna, Radio telescope
* Meade 14-inch Cassegrain reflector telescope
* Meade 10-inch Cassegrain reflector telescope
* Two Meade 8-inch Cassegrain reflector telescopes
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
Description*
ttp://iowascienceinterface.com/tag/fick-observatory/ Going dark: ISU abandoning the Fick Observatory
{{Portal bar, Iowa, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science
1970 establishments in Iowa
Astronomical observatories in Iowa
Buildings and structures in Boone County, Iowa
Iowa State University