.jpg) Optical domes of the observatory | |||||||||||||||||
| Organization | University of Hertfordshire | ||||||||||||||||
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| Observatory code | J33 | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Hertfordshire,United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 51°46′30″N00°05′40″W / 51.77500°N 0.09444°W /51.77500; -0.09444 | ||||||||||||||||
| Altitude | 66 metres (217 ft) | ||||||||||||||||
| Established | 1969 (1969) | ||||||||||||||||
| Website | Bayfordbury Observatory | ||||||||||||||||
| Telescopes | |||||||||||||||||
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  Location of Bayfordbury Observatory | |||||||||||||||||
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Bayfordbury Observatory is theUniversity of Hertfordshire'sastronomical andatmospheric physicsremote sensingobservatory, and one of the largest teaching observatories in theUK. It is located in the relatively dark countryside ofBayfordbury,Hertfordshire, 6 miles from the main university campus inHatfield. The first telescope was built in 1969, and since then has been used as a teaching observatory for undergraduate students, staff and student research as well as for public outreach activities.
The first telescope, a 16-inchNewtonian/Cassegraintelescope, was built on the site in 1969, one year after astronomy was first taught at theHatfield Polytechnic. In 1970 the observatory was formally opened byRichard van der Riet Woolley, thenAstronomer Royal.Over the years the number of telescopes has increased along with the size of astronomy department.
On the 30th anniversary in 2000, the observatory underwent a large renovation. Three new telescope domes and a 4.5m radio telescope were built, as well as a control building, opened and named after SirPatrick Moore, from where the computer-controlled telescopes can be operated and images analysed.[1]
The observatory has seven permanently mounted mainoptical telescopes, the first being the 20-inch J.C.D MarshCassegrain Telescope, and the largest is a Planewave CDK24 24-inch telescope. The other telescopes include four equatorially mounted,robotic 16-inchMeade LX200s as well as a 14-inch Meade LX200. These telescopes are equipped with research-gradeCCD andCMOS cameras,spectrographs andvideo cameras. A number of smaller telescopes are co-mounted to the main telescopes to act asguidescopes, widefield telescopes orH-alphasolar telescopes.
As well as using optical wavelengths, the observatory also has extensiveradio astronomy capabilities. The largestradio telescope is the 4.5m R.W. Forrest telescope which is used for receiving the21cm Hydrogen line and continuum emission. A further three 3m radio telescopes are soon to operate together as a 115 metre baselineinterferometer.[2]
A nearby university science building houses aplanetarium used during open evenings and groups visits. The roof of the building hosts a number of the observatory's sensing equipment including aSky Quality Meter for quantifying levels of light pollution, acoelostat for observing the Sun, and day and night-timeall-sky cameras - two of six the university operates throughout the UK.[3]
The university organises a variety of public outreach events including monthly open evenings from October till March and group visits for school classes and community groups.[4]
Since 2010 the observatory has also grown to serve as aremote sensing station for the university's Centre for Atmospheric & Instrumentation Research.A former telescope dome now houses a remotely operable mount with a micropulseLIDAR/ceilometer, ultra-sensitiveSunpolarimeter and acirrus-detectinginfraredpyrometer, with further plans to add an infrared spectropolarimeter in the near-future.
The roof of the nearby science building also hosts an automaticSun photometer and lunar photometer as part of theNASAAERONET network, a scanning infraredradiometer, apyrgeometer andpyranometer, as well as day and night-time all-sky cameras.[5]
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51°46′30″N00°05′40″W / 51.77500°N 0.09444°W /51.77500; -0.09444