Yerkes Observatory
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| Yerkes Observatory | |
 Yerkes Observatory, January 2006. |
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| Organization: | University of Chicago |
|---|---|
| Location: | Williams Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A. |
| Coordinates: | |
| Altitude: | 1050 feet (334 meters) |
| Weather: | See the Clear Sky Clock |
| Website: | [1] |
| Telescopes | |
| 40-inch refractor: | |
| 40-inch reflector: | |
| 24-inch reflector: | |
| 10-inch Cassegrain reflector: | |
| 7-inch Schmidt camera: | |
The Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory of the University of Chicago in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. It was created in 1897 by George Ellery Hale and financed by Charles T. Yerkes. The observatory represented a shift in the thinking of observatories, from mere housing for a telescope and observer, to the modern concept of observation equipment integrated with laboratory space for physics and chemistry. A 102 cm (40 inch) refracting telescope built by the master optician Alvan Clark is located inside; it was the largest telescope in the world until the construction of Mount Wilson's reflector. It remains the largest refracting telescope ever used.
In addition to the Yerkes refractor, the observatory also has a 102 cm (40 inch) and a 61 cm (24 inch) reflecting telescope. Several smaller telescopes are used for educational outreach purposes.
Current research includes the interstellar medium, globular cluster formation, infrared astronomy, and near-Earth objects. Additionally, the University of Chicago maintains a sizable engineering center in the observatory, dedicated to making and maintaining scientific instruments.
The current director is Dr. Kyle M. Cudworth.
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[edit] Development and preservation plans
In March, 2005, the University of Chicago announced plans to sell the observatory and its land on the shore of Lake Geneva. Initial reports had two purchasers interested, Mirbeau, an east coast developer who wanted to build luxury homes, and Aurora University, which has a campus straddling the Williams Bay property. The Geneva Lake Conservancy, a regional conservation and land trust organization, has taken the position that it is critical to save, in place, the historic Yerkes Observatory structures and telescopes for education and research, as well as to conserve the rare undeveloped, wooded lakefront and deep forest sections of the 77 acre (31 hectares) site. On June 7, 2006, the University announced it would sell the facility to Mirbeau for $8 million with stipulations to preserve the observatory, the surrounding thirty acres, and the entire shoreline of the site.[2]. Under the Mirbeau plan, a 100-room resort with a large spa operation and attendant parking and support facilities would be located on the 9-acre virgin wooded Yerkes land on the lakeshore -- the last such undeveloped, natural site on Lake Geneva's 21-mile shoreline. 72 homes would be developed on the upper Yerkes property, surrounding the historic observatory. These grounds were designed more than 100 years ago by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York's Central Park.
In view of the public controversy surrounding the development proposals, the university suspended these plans in January 2007.[3] The university's department of astronomy and astrophysics then formed a study group, including representatives from the faculty and observatory and a wide range of other involved parties, to plan for the operation of a regional center for science education at the observatory.[4] The study group began its work in February and its report is due to be finished by summer 2007.[5]
[edit] In popular culture
Yerkes Observatory is the setting for a portion of the 1996 movie Chain Reaction[6] including gunplay, airboat chases across frozen Lake Geneva, and a character who, when first seen, is making naked-eye observations through the eyepiece of the forty-inch refractor.
[edit] See also
Yerkes Observatory offers free Saturday programs throughout the year (except when the Saturday falls on Christmas and New Years) beginning at 10 am, 11 am, and Noon. Yerkes appreciates donations.
In the movie "Chain Reaction," the astronomer is NOT observing with the naked-eye through the telescope eyepiece! The observer is looking through the telescope. Had she been ouside looking up without a pair of binoculars or through a telescope, she would have been observing with the naked eye. Perhaps the editor meant to say the telescope was not being used to take a photograph or spectra.
[edit] External links
- Yerkes Observatory - official site.
- Description and history from the National Park Service.
- Save Yerkes
- Yerkes Study Group
