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Pillsbury Observatory
Open House Observing Sessions
Next Open House: November 28, 2008, 8:00-10:00 PM
About once a month, the observatory is open to the public for viewing. The observatory is on top of White Science Center. There will be signs giving directions inside the building. In November we will be observing The Pleiades, an open cluster about 400 light-years from Earth.
The Pillsbury Observatory of William Jewell College is equipped with a 14-inch Celestron telescope on a Byers Class 2 mount in a 5-meter dome.
Accessories include a CCD camera (SBIG Model ST-9E) with color filters and image processing software and a full-aperture solar filter. A low-light-level monochrome TV camera and 20-inch monitor are available for observation of craters on the moon. Also, conventional film cameras are provided in both 35mm and 4x5 format, along with a well-equipped darkroom.
The Observatory is used during the Fall semester in the teaching of the Physics Department's Basic Astronomy course, which has a lab/observing session each Wednesday night. Both Fall and Spring semesters there are opportunities for its use by students who enroll in the Department's "Research Experience" course. There are also Open House nights scheduled each month for other students and members of the larger Liberty community.
Observatory activities are under the direction of Prof. Maggie Brewer, whose Ph.D. is in Observational Astronomy from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. Contact information: phone (816) 415-7881; email brewerm@william.jewell.edu
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