Department of Physics

West Chester University

Chair: Anthony J. Nicastro
127 Merion Hall
West Chester, PA 19383
Phone: 610.436.2497
Fax: 610.436.3013
ANicastro@wcupa.edu


West Chester University Observatory

2010 Upgrade

The observatory underwent a recent upgrade by Physics Professor Bob Thornton and Physics major Mike Hedrick. The old Newtonian reflector was replaced by a computer-controlled telescope, and new computers and furniture were added to the facility. The picture on the right shows Mike putting the finishing touches on a telescope adaptor plate that he machined using the Schmucker Science Center Machine Shop.

Location

The observatory sits atop the roof of the Schmucker Science Center on the corners of Church and Rosedale Streets on West Chester's main campus. You can take the elevator to the 4th floor, then take the last flight of stairs to the observatory. If you do not like heights or are unable to access the observatory, there are portable telescopes that can be used on the ground level.



Instruments

The observatory houses a pier-mounted 10-inch Meade LX200. Visitors can view celestial objects through the telescope eyepiece or with an ST-8XME CCD camera. For daytime observing, we have a new DayStar tunable Hydrogen-alpha solar filter.


Image Gallery

The observatory sits atop the roof of the Schmucker Science Center on the corners of Church and Rosedale Streets on West Chester's main campus. You can take the elevator to the 4th floor, then take the last flight of stairs to the observatory. If you do not like heights or are unable to access the observatory, there are portable telescopes that can be used on the ground level.





Visitors and Contact Info

The observatory underwent a recent upgrade by Physics Professor Bob Thornton and Physics major Mike Hedrick. The old Newtonian reflector was replaced by a computer-controlled telescope, and new computers and furniture were added to the facility. The picture on the right shows Mike putting the finishing touches on a telescope adaptor plate that he machined using the Schmucker Science Center Machine Shop.