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Vassar College Observatory

Field	Value
name	Vassar College Observatory
nrhp_type	nhl
image	[[File:Vassar College Observatory, March 2014.jpg	250px]]
caption	The Observatory in 2014 with its dome sealed
location	Vassar College campus, Town of Poughkeepsie, NY
locmapin	New York
coordinates
built	1865
designated_nrhp_type	July 17, 1991{{cite web	url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2116&ResourceType=Building
archive-url	https://web.archive.org/web/20110606003033/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2116&ResourceType=Building
url-status	dead
archive-date	June 6, 2011
title	Vassar College Observatory	date=2007-09-18	work=National Historic Landmark summary listing	publisher=National Park Service}}
added	July 17, 1991
refnum	91002051
designated_other1	New York State Register of Historic Places
designated_other1_num_position	bottom
designated_other1_number	02714.000020
designated_other1_abbr	NYSRHP
designated_other1_date	July 17, 1991

the historic observatory

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606003033/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=2116&ResourceType=Building |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 6, 2011

The Vassar College Observatory is an astronomical observatory of the private Vassar College, located near the eastern edge of the Poughkeepsie, New York college's campus. Finished in 1865, it was the first building on the college's campus, older even than the Main Building, with which it shares the status of National Historic Landmark. The observatory's significance is due to its association with Maria Mitchell, the first widely known female astronomer in the United States.

As the college has built a new observatory on a hill near the edge of campus, the building is no longer used for astronomy. In 2008 it underwent a large restoration and renovation and now houses the offices of the education department and classrooms.

History

Maria Mitchell (seated) inside the dome of the Vassar College Observatory

Mitchell, the first manager of the observatory, focused primarily on observing planets and their satellites. She was an avid advocate for using the observatory as part of courses of study. Students could frequently be found using both the main telescope and any number of smaller instruments. In addition to serving as an educational and research facility, the original observatory also served as a home for Maria and her father during and after her tenure as professor.

Professor Mary W. Whitney assumed the directorship in 1888. She had been a student of Mitchell's. Whitney focused on comets and published in 1890, 1892 and 1895 in the Astronomical Journal.

It was noted in Popular Astronomy in 1904, "In general the work done at Vassar is similar to that done at several of the smaller German and Italian observatories."

The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1991.

The old observatory is no longer used for research. While the building still stands, the telescope has been removed and most of the building is used as office space. In the late 1990s, a new observatory was built on the Vassar College campus. The Class of '51 Observatory houses two telescopes; one 20-inch reflector used primarily for public outreach, and a 32-inch reflector used for teaching and research. It is tied with the Austin-Fellows telescope of the Stull Observatory at Alfred University for being the 2nd-largest optical telescope in the state of New York, the largest being the 40-inch reflector at SUNY Oneonta College Observatory.

List of directors

Maria Mitchell (1865–1888)
Mary W. Whitney (1888–1895)
Caroline Furness (1895–1936)
Maud Worcester Makemson (1936-1957)
Henry Albers (1958–1990)
Fred Chromey (1990–2016)
Colette Salyk (2016–present)

References

McKenney, Anne P., "What women have done for astronomy in the United States," Popular Astronomy, Vol. 12, pg. 171.

References

{{NRISref. 2007a
"Maria Mitchell Observatory".
Miller, Page Putnam. (September 25, 1989). ["National Register of Historic Places Registration: Vassar College Observatory"]({{NHLS url).
(1989). ["National Register of Historic Places Registration: Vassar College Observatory–Accompanying photos"]({{NHLS url).
"Class of 1951 Observatory".
"Memoriam".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

astronomical-observatories-in-new-york-(state) national-historic-landmarks-in-new-york-(state) school-buildings-completed-in-1865 vassar-college-buildings-and-structures university-and-college-buildings-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-new-york-(state) national-register-of-historic-places-in-dutchess-county,-new-york new-york-state-register-of-historic-places-in-poughkeepsie university-and-college-astronomical-observatories

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