Observatory

Student Steele Parris working with professor Jonathan Keohane.	The HSC observatory building from the outside.

The Hampden-Sydney College Observatory houses a 16 inch Ritchey-Chrétien Optical Systems open truss telescope, with an Apogee Alta U47 camera. The camera can be replaced with an eyepiece, for some night labs and public observing sessions.

The observatory is used on clear nights for projects in our astronomy classes, student research projects, and community observing.

Our current plans are to integrate the observatory into the SkyNet telescope control system through the for fully automated control. This will enable the telescope to be used more efficiently, because it will not need to be staffed in order to be observing the sky.

Links

• Astronomy Resource Page from the HSC Library
• The field of view and plate scale
• The RCOS 16" flier
• The RCOS Optical Cleaning Guide