Leuschner Observatory
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| Named after | Armin Otto Leuschner | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organization | University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University | ||||
| Observatory code | 660 | ||||
| Location | Lafayette, California | ||||
| Coordinates | 37°55′10″N 122°09′14″W / 37.91934°N 122.15385°W[1] | ||||
| Altitude | 304 m (997 ft)[1] | ||||
| Established | 1886 (Berkeley), 1965 (Lafayette) | ||||
| Website | Leuschner Observatory | ||||
| Telescopes | |||||
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  Location of Leuschner Observatory | |||||
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Leuschner Observatory, originally called the Students' Observatory, is an observatory jointly operated by the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco State University. The observatory was built in 1886 on the Berkeley campus. For many years, it was directed by Armin Otto Leuschner, for whom the observatory was renamed in 1951. In 1965, it was relocated to its present home in Lafayette, California, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Berkeley campus. In 2012, the physics and astronomy department of San Francisco State University became a partner.
Presently, Leuschner Observatory has two operating telescopes. One is a 30-inch (760 mm) optical telescope, equipped with a charge-coupled device (CCD) for observations in visible light and an infrared detector used for infrared astronomy. The other is a 4.3-metre (14 ft) radio dish used for an undergraduate radio astronomy course.[2] The observatory has been used to perform professional astronomy research, such as orbit determination of small Solar System bodies in the early 1900s and supernova surveys in the 1980s and 1990s. It has also served as a primary tool in the education of graduate and undergraduate students at UC Berkeley.
The Students' Observatory was constructed in 1886 on the Berkeley campus, with the original funds provided by the California legislature in order for the observatory to provide practical training to civil engineers.[3] Very quickly, the Students' Observatory became seen as a training ground for students studying astronomy, so that they would be better prepared to go on to use the facilities at Lick Observatory. This contributed to the separation of the departments of civil engineering and astronomy in the mid-1890s, with the Students' Observatory becoming the home of the Berkeley Astronomy Department.[3]
In 1898, Armin Otto Leuschner was appointed the director of the Students' Observatory, a post that he held until his retirement in 1938. During this time, "the observatory became a center for the computation of the orbits of comets, minor planets, and satellites."[4] Astronomer Simon Newcomb said that Leuschner organized the department and observatory into "a thorough school of astronomy, than which [...] there is none better."[5] After he stepped down, the observatory was directed by a series of well regarded astronomers, including Otto Struve from 1950–59 and Louis G. Henyey from 1959–64. The Students' Observatory was renamed Leuschner Observatory by the Regents of the University of California in 1951 in honor of A. O. Leuschner.[4] The Space Sciences Lab, which operates SETI, began operations in 1960 at Leuschner Observatory until a permanent home in the Berkeley hills was completed in 1966.[6]
In 1965, the observatory was relocated a short distance east of the Berkeley campus in the hills of Lafayette, California, on the 283-acre (1.15 km2) Russell Reservation. In 1968, the observatory was equipped with a new 30-inch (76 cm) Ritchey-Chretien telescope built by Tinsley Laboratories.[7] Since, the observatory has been used as a testing ground for a variety of experiments and instruments. The predecessor to the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope was tested at Leuschner Observatory in the early 1990s, and in the early 2000s, the first prototype of the telescopes used at the Allen Telescope Array was unveiled at Leuschner.[1][8] Leuschner Observatory's 30-inch (76 cm) telescope continues to be regularly used in undergraduate astronomical instruction, while the 20-inch (51 cm) telescope was decommissioned and is in disrepair. In 2012, the physics and astronomy department of San Francisco State University bought into the 30-inch (76 cm) telescope. SF State and UC Berkeley staff jointly refurbished and upgraded the motors and control system of the larger telescope; SF State also installed a remote observing station based in its frequently fog-laden San Francisco campus.
In 1972, the original Leuschner observatory dome was donated to Stanford University as part of the construction of the Stanford Student Observatory. The dome was cut in half and moved from Berkeley to the observatory, located on a hill overlooking the golf course next to the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences.[9] The dome was reassembled, and a new motor drive was built to rotate the dome. [10][11] The observatory was dedicated in October 1973, and is regularly used for classes and public viewing.[12]
Instruments
Optical/infrared
Leuschner Observatory houses two optical telescopes, one with a 30-inch (76 cm) diameter and the other with a 20-inch (51 cm) diameter. As of 2010, the 20-inch (51 cm) telescope is not usable, and the 30-inch (76 cm) telescope is undergoing upgrades. The 30-inch (76 cm) telescope is of Ritchey-Chretien design, and is equipped with both a CCD for observations in visible light and an infrared detector that was fabricated in 2000 in order to create an infrared laboratory course for undergraduate students at UC Berkeley.[13] Both optical telescopes are also outfitted with control systems which allow them be automated, meaning observations are made with minimal human intervention.[14]
Radio
Leuschner Observatory is home to a single 3.6-metre (12 ft) radio telescope. The telescope was one of the prototypes for the Allen Telescope Array that were tested at Leuschner, and has since been used in the undergraduate radio astronomy lab.[8] The telescope operates between 1320–1740 MHz and uses an 8192 element spectrometer with spectral resolution of about 1.5 kHz and a 12 MHz bandwidth. The operating range allows for it to be used to observe the 21-cm hydrogen line as well as hydroxyl lines from astrophysical masers.[15]
