The Killarney Provincial Park Observatory is a small observatory located in Killarney Provincial Park near the George Lake Campground (near Killarney, Ontario, Canada). Opened on July 17, 2010[1] it is the first public observatory running in any Ontario Provincial Park (the Algonquin Radio Observatory, stationed in Algonquin Provincial Park is privately operated).
The Killarney Provincial Park Observatory utilizes a SkyShed GPOD XL3 with two doors and houses a Meade 10" LX5 telescope. The dome is made completely from Re-Cycled plastic (Re-HDPE)[2] and the telescope sits on a steel peer. The observatory and telescope were donated by the Waters family to celebrate 25 consecutive years of astronomy lectures by Bruce Waters to over 5,000 park visitors. The telescope and observatory sit on a deck with two ramps (to ease the movement of people) donated by the Friends of Killarney Park. On January 29, 2011 Bill and the Gardner family, donated and installed a top quality Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini GoTo. This generous donation has greatly augmented the capability of the system; especially making it easier for first time observers to use the facility.
While the Observatory will be used for special large audience presentations (with upwards of 200 people) and by the Natural Heritage Education (NHE) park interpreters, the real beauty of the facility is that it has been optimized for self serve use. This allows anyone visiting the park free access to a high quality amateur observatory and, in this regard, the Killarney Provincial Park Observatory may be the first free, public, self use facility in North America. At this time, it is best to call the park ahead of time to enquire about its use.
The Killarney Provincial Park Observatory has most of the equipment that an amateur astronomer would want to use. The list below will be useful in planning a trip to the facility. Please note that, while the primary instrument is a Meade LX 5 series telescope, the Losmandy G11 mount with Gemini GoTo unit has been added in place of the original fork mount.
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