The '
Theodor Jacobsen Observatory'' is the on-campus
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 ...
of the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
. Built in 1895, it is the second oldest building on campus and was constructed using the remaining
Tenino sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
blocks from
Denny Hall, the oldest and first building on campus. The
refracting telescope
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 ...
, enclosed within the dome, has a six-inch
Brashear objective lens
In optical engineering, an objective is an optical element that gathers light from an object being observed and focuses the light rays from it to produce a real image of the object. Objectives can be a single lens or mirror, or combinations of ...
of a Warner & Swasey
equatorial mount
An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that compensates for Earth's rotation by having one rotational axis, called ''polar axis'', parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescope mount, tel ...
. The observatory also includes a
transit
Transit may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Transit'' (1980 film), a 1980 Israeli film
* ''Transit'' (1986 film), a Canadian short film
* ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countrie ...
room on the west side and a 45-seat classroom, which was built later, on the south side.
Today, the observatory is primarily used for public outreach and is run jointly by the UW Department on
Astronomy
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 includ ...
and th
Seattle Astronomical Society Every first and third Tuesday between April and September the observatory is open to the public.
The observatory is listed on the
State Register on Historical Buildings.
Information on the original design and building of the observatory b
Prof. Joseph Marion Taylormay be found on the University Washington Astronomy Department website and other sources.
See also
*
List of observatories
This is a partial 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 lon ...
References
External links
Official Website (updated 2019-Apr-25)Seattle Astronomical Society Website
Astronomical observatories in Washington (state)
Public observatories
University of Washington buildings
1895 establishments in Washington (state)
University and college buildings completed in 1895
{{US-observatory-stub