Astronomical Facilities
Observatories
Midtown Observatory
The Midtown Observatory sits atop Higgins Hall on Western's Midtown campus. It is used for classes, undergraduate research and public viewing nights. The Midtown Observatory houses a 6-inch refractor and an 8-inch Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope on a computer-controlled mounting. An astrocamera, two photoelectric photometers, an Astrovid television system and a CCD camera are available for use with these telescopes. Several portable telescopes are also on hand.
Westside Observatory
The Westside Observatory, located atop a five-acre hill on Western's Westside campus, houses a 20-inch computer controlled Ritchey-Chretien reflector. This telescope is dedicated to astrophysical research by undergraduate and graduate students and faculty. It is currently equipped with a large-format thermoelectrically cooled CCD camera, which is used to obtain multi-color digital images of planets, faint stars and other deep-sky objects. A CCD spectrograph will be added to the telescope in Fall, 2000. CCD images and spectra are processed with software at the Westside Observatory and also with the Image Reduction and Analysis Facilty (IRAF) at the Center for Galactic Astronomy on the Midtown Campus.
Open nights for special events will be occasionally held at the Westside Observatory. Call (203) 837-8671 for more information.
Educational
Planetarium/Midtown Observatory
The WCSU planetarium seats 40 people; its Spitz Nova III star projector is used for teaching and presenting star shows to school and scout groups. Public nights to view stars and planets take place (weather permitting) at the Midtown Observatory on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday evenings of each month during the spring and fall terms.
Computing
Astronomical computing (especially image processing) is carried out at the Westside Observatory and at the Center for Galactic Astronomy. The computer systems at both locations are being upgraded. Currently, the Center for Galactic Astronomy houses a Decstation, a Macintosh PowerPC and an IBM PC running Linux, as well as a microVax and a link to the Westside Observatory. All computers have the IRAF software package installed, as well as many other astronomical data reduction and scientific analysis programs.
