Fuertes Observatory

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**Fuertes Observatory**
Telescopes
Organization	Cornell University
Location	Ithaca, New York (USA)
Coordinates	42°27′12″N, 76°28′23″W
Altitude	320 meters
Webpage	Fuertes Observatory
Unnamed Telescope	12-inch Warner & Swasey refractor

1 Main Details
2 Telescopes
3 Nearby Observatories
4 External Link
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Main Details

Fuertes Observatory is an observatory located on the North Campus of Cornell University. Built around 1920 the observatory was originally used by the Civil Engineering Department as an instructional field office for navigation and surveying. With increased building on the North Campus, Fuertes Observatory is no longer used for research but it still used for introductory Astronomy classes usually taught by grad students.

Day to day maintainance of the observatory is handled by the Cornell Astronomical Society, a group of Cornell undergraduates, graduates and Ithaca citizens. The Society offers public viewing nights on Friday evenings when classes are in session.

The observatory is named after Estevan Fuertes.

[edit] Telescopes

The observatory contains a 12-inch refracting telescope with a mechanical clock drive operated by weights just like a grandfather clock. The drive is stable enough to allow the production of photographs of up to 20 minute duration without star trailing.