Vassar College Observatory | |
 The Observatory in 2014 with its dome sealed | |
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| Location | Vassar College campus,Town of Poughkeepsie,NY |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41°41′18″N73°53′36″W / 41.688285°N 73.893310°W /41.688285; -73.893310 |
| Built | 1865 |
| NRHP reference No. | 91002051 |
| NYSRHP No. | 02714.000020 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 17, 1991[1] |
| Designated NHL | July 17, 1991[2] |
| Designated NYSRHP | July 17, 1991 |
TheVassar College Observatory is anastronomical observatory of the privateVassar College, located near the eastern edge of thePoughkeepsie,New York college's campus. Finished in 1865, it was the first building on the college's campus, older even than theMain Building, with which it shares the status ofNational Historic Landmark. The observatory's significance is due to its association withMaria Mitchell, the first widely known femaleastronomer in theUnited States.[3]
As the college has built a new observatory on a hill near the edge of campus, the building is no longer used for astronomy. In 2008 it underwent a large restoration and renovation and now houses the offices of the education department and classrooms.
Mitchell, the first manager of the observatory, focused primarily on observingplanets and theirsatellites. She was an avid advocate for using the observatory as part of courses of study. Students could frequently be found using both the main telescope and any number of smaller instruments. In addition to serving as an educational and research facility, the original observatory also served as a home for Maria and her father during and after her tenure as professor.[citation needed]
Professor Mary W. Whitney assumed the directorship in 1888. She had been a student of Mitchell's. Whitney focused on comets and published in 1890, 1892 and 1895 in theAstronomical Journal.[citation needed]
It was noted inPopular Astronomy in 1904, "In general the work done at Vassar is similar to that done at several of the smaller German and Italian observatories."[citation needed]
The building was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1991.[2][4][5]
The old observatory is no longer used for research. While the building still stands, the telescope has been removed and most of the building is used as office space. In the late 1990s, a new observatory was built on the Vassar College campus. TheClass of '51 Observatory houses two telescopes; one 20-inch reflector used primarily for public outreach, and a 32-inch reflector used for teaching and research.[6] It is tied with the Austin-Fellows telescope of theStull Observatory atAlfred University for being the 2nd-largest optical telescope in the state ofNew York, the largest being the 40-inch reflector atSUNY Oneonta College Observatory.
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