Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Pine Mountain Observatory

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Location
  
near Bend, Oregon

unnamed telescope
  
0.8 m reflector

Phone
  
+1 541-382-8331

Established
  
1967 (1967)

unnamed telescope
  
0.6 m reflector

Organization
  
University of Oregon

Pine Mountain Observatory

Altitude
  
1,920 meters (6,300 ft)

Website
  
Pine Mountain Observatory

Address
  
Deschutes National Forest, 56100 Pine Mountain Road, Bend, OR 97701, USA

Similar
  
Sunriver Observatory, Chapman Hall, Deady Hall, Sunriver Nature Center, White River Falls State Park

Pine Mountain Observatory (PMO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by University of Oregon Physics Department. It is located 26 miles (42 km) southeast of Bend, Oregon (USA) in the Deschutes National Forest. The site was discovered by professors Russ Donnelly and E.G. Ebbinghausen in 1965 and has been in operation since 1967.

Contents

PMO's mission includes a strong public education aspect. Programs for high-school students have not only include observation, but also analysis of data and preparation of a paper for publication. PMO has developed software that enables K-12 teachers to perform observations remotely and process the data for classroom use

As well as public education, the observatory hosts professional projects such as research on white dwarf stars and examining the large-scale structure of galaxies.

Welcome to pine mountain observatory


Telescopes

  • A 0.82 m (32 in) Cassegrain reflector built in 1970 by Sigma Research has a 1024 x 1024 pixel thinned, rear illuminated, blue-sensitive CCD camera with a field size of approximately 36 arcminutes. It is mounted at the prime focus, which prevents direct observations.
  • A 0.4 m (16 in) Cassegrain reflector was the first telescope installed at the site in 1967.
  • A 0.38 m (15 in) Cassegrain reflector was used by Donnelly and Ebbinghausen before PMO was founded, and was later installed at the site. As of 2007 a project was under way, in collaboration with Portland State University, to replace the historic instrument with a remotely controlled 0.36 m (14 in) telescope for astronomical imaging.

    • References

    Pine Mountain Observatory Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA