About the St. John's College Observatory
The observatory facility, located at the top of the Foucault pendulum tower in Mellon Hall, Room 301, contains two permanently mounted telescopes, a 12" Schmidt-Cassegrain model LX200 and a 16" Newtonian, both made by Meade Instruments. The 12" telescope is computer controlled and has a 65,000 object electronic catalog. Both the 12" and a 16" Newtonian are mounted on 18" diameter concrete piers. Each telescope is set beneath an 8'x10' sliding door. In addition, two smaller telescopes, 8" and 3" diameter Schmidt-Cassegrains made by Celestron, are available for use during observing sessions. Field glasses are also available.
In addition to the telescopes, a Meade Instruments CCD camera and a computer with a SCSI (Small Computer Serial Interface)are available for recording images. Those interested in finding out more about planned activities can contact St. John's College Observatory.
The St. John's College Observatory was constructed in part with funds obtained from the National Science Foundation's Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement (ILI) Program. The College gratefully acknowledges NSF's generous support for this and other projects.
