The Mont Mégantic Observatory (, ; OMM) 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 jointly by the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

(UdeM) and the

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

(ULaval). Founded in 1978, the observatory houses the second largest telescope in

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

after David Dunlap Observatory near Toronto. It is situated at the summit of Mont Mégantic, the highest point of Eastern Canada accessible by car. OMM is about east of

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...

and east of

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. The asteroid 4843 Mégantic is named for the observatory.

Telescope

The Ritchey-Chrétien telescope is equipped with a complement of modern instruments. Imaging,

spectroscopy Spectroscopy is the field of study that measures and interprets electromagnetic spectra. In narrower contexts, spectroscopy is the precise study of color as generalized from visible light to all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. Spectro ...

, and polarimetry are routinely conducted at both visible and infrared wavelengths.

Light pollution

Efforts to control local

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 ...

, about one-quarter of which is due to the nearby city of

, have led to the establishment of the world's first

International Dark-Sky Association DarkSky International, formerly the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), is a United States–based nonprofit organization incorporated in 1988 by founders David Crawford, a professional astronomer, and Tim Hunter, a physician and amateu ...

(IDA) Dark Sky preserve around the observatory, covering some 5500 square km (2123 square miles).

ASTROLab

ASTROLab is an astronomy activity centre operated by the Parc national du Mont-Mégantic. There are interactive displays about the history of the Universe, the Earth and life. Visitors can take guided daytime tours of ASTROLab and the Mount Megantic Observatory. There are also astronomy evenings, an astronomy festival, and the Perseid Festival.

Solar eclipse of April 8th 2024

The observatory is near the center path of totality of the solar eclipse of April 8, 2024.

References

External links