 The second Dudley Observatory building, shown on a postcard (c. 1911) | |
| Named after | Charles E. Dudley  |
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| Observatory code | 296 |
| Location | Loudonville, New York |
| Coordinates | 42°43′10″N73°45′05″W / 42.71956°N 73.75142°W /42.71956; -73.75142 |
| Website | dudleyobservatory |
  Location of Dudley Observatory | |
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 Related media on Commons | |
Dudley Observatory is anastronomical education non-profit located since 2019 inLoudonville, New York and is the oldest non-academic institution of astronomical research in America.[1] It was formerly located inAlbany, New York (1856–1973) andSchenectady (1973–2019) and was once a workingobservatory.
The Observatory was chartered on February 11, 1852, by the New York State Senate, and by the New York State Assembly on April 3, 1852.[2] It was named forCharles E. Dudley of Albany, a former United States Senator and member of theAlbany Regency. Dudley lived in New York State, died in 1841, and his widow Blandina Bleeker Dudley endowed the Dudley Observatory after his death.[3]
Dudley Observatory has operated from at least six separate sites since its founding.
The first location of the observatory was on a rise to the north-east of downtown Albany that was locally known as "Goat Hill".[4] Today, that location is the approximate location of Arbor Hill Elementary School.[5]
Construction began in 1852 and the building was dedicated on August 28, 1856, prior to its completion, withEdward Everett, formerPresident of Harvard University andUnited States Secretary of State delivering the keynote oration.[6]
Dudley was one of the original founding institutions comprisingUnion University when it was founded on April 10, 1873, by an act of the New York State Legislature.[7]
By the 1890s, railroad traffic around the original building had grown to the point where the vibrations were disrupting the astronomical instruments.[8] The original building was sold to the city of Albany, and new property was purchased on the grounds of the Albany Alms-House.[9]
After World War II, Dudley began a transition from astronomical observation to research for thespace race. Consequently, the second observatory was sold toAlbany Medical Center in 1963. The building burned down in 1970 and was replaced by theCapital District Psychiatric Center.
After the sale of the second observatory, an office building was purchased at 100 Fuller Road, near theUniversity at Albany.[10] This phase lasted until the end of the space race, when funding fromNASA dried up.[11] The Fuller Road office was rented to the University in 1976.[12]
After briefly being located in a strip mall inLatham, New York, the observatory donated its rare book collection to theUnion College Library. From there it moved to a house on Union Avenue in 1977, before moving to the Schaffer Heights Senior Apartments building at 107 Nott Terrace in Schenectady,[13] remaining in the latter location until 2015. In 2008, they refurbished their circa 1893 Pruyn telescope.[1]
Recently, the observatory has evolved from a research facility to an educational foundation. In 2015 in moved to theMuseum of Innovation and Science in Schenectady.[14] In 2018, ground was broken for an observatory located on the grounds of the museum which would have marked the first time Dudley would serve as a working observatory in almost 40 years.[15]
In 2019, the Dudley Observatory moved to the grounds ofSiena University in Loudonville, N.Y. At the same time, the archival collection was donated to theNew York State Archives, which had the resources to catalog and preserve the Observatory's documents. A collection of scientific hardware, including a Brashear refracting telescope and equatorial mount, were donated to theNew York State Museum in Albany.[16] The Dudley Observatory maintains a collection of rare books including first editions by Galileo and Copernicus.
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