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| Organization | Swarthmore College | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Swarthmore, PA | ||
| Coordinates | 39°54′13″N75°21′19″W / 39.90361°N 75.35528°W /39.90361; -75.35528 | ||
| Altitude | 60 meters (200 feet) | ||
| Closed | 31 July 2017 | ||
| Website | www | ||
| Telescopes | |||
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  Location of Sproul Observatory | |||
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Sproul Observatory was anastronomicalobservatory owned and operated bySwarthmore College. It was located inSwarthmore,Pennsylvania,United States, and named afterWilliam Cameron Sproul, the 27th Governor of Pennsylvania, who graduated from Swarthmore in 1891. The 24" telescope was moved from Sproul Observatory toBentonville, Arkansas in July 2017.[1]
In 1907, William Cameron Sproul communicated to the Board of Managers of Swarthmore College his desire to donate funds for the purchase of equipment for an astronomical observatory.[2] Sproul was a successful businessman who graduated from Swarthmore in 1891 and a trustee to the college. At the time of the gift, he was serving asPennsylvania State Senator for the9th District[3] and went on to become the 27th Governor of Pennsylvania.[4]
The telescope was built in 1911 by theJohn A. Brashear Company inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] When the telescope was installed at the observatory in 1913, it was the largest on the East Coast of the United States and one of the largest in the world.[5]
From 1986 to 2004, the computer science department was given office and lab space in the observatory building.[6]
In 2009, Swarthmore College added the Peter van de Kamp Observatory to the newly built Science Center. The new observatory contained a more technologically advanced 24" reflecting telescope and replaced the Sproul Observatory for education and public outreach purposes.[5]
In 2017, the telescope was dismantled and moved to the Eighth Street Market inBentonville, Arkansas to be restored, upgraded and used for public outreach.[1] It is now at the NWA Space and Science Center.[7] The book collection of the Sproul Observatory was donated to an astronomy center inMagdalena, New Mexico.[5]
In 2017, Swarthmore unveiled plans to renovate Sproul Observatory which will transform the observatory into the James Hormel and Michael Nguyen Intercultural Center at Sproul Hall which will bring the Intercultural Center, Interfaith Center, Religious and Spiritual Life Center and the Office of International Student Services in one building.[8]
Under the direction ofPeter van de Kamp this observatory made numerous claims ofplanetary systems and discoveries based onastrometry using thephotographic plates made with the 24 in (61 cm)refractor telescope. These plates were found to have asystematic error that was misinterpreted as the effect of aplanetary system on the parent star. This error was identified as early as 1973[9] and confirmed by the observatory in the 1980s.[10]
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Satellite39°54′11″N75°21′19″W / 39.90308°N 75.3553°W /39.90308; -75.3553
