The SUNY Oneonta Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Oneonta, New York, home to the state's largest optical telescope and one of the largest publicly open east of the Mississippi, a one-meter (40 inch) Newtonian reflector constructed by JMI Telescopes of Lakewood, Colorado.
| Organization | State University of New York at Oneonta | ||||||
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| Location | Oneonta, New York (USA) | ||||||
| Coordinates | 42°29′50″N 75°03′37″W / 42.497162°N 75.060235°W | ||||||
| Telescopes | |||||||
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  Location of SUNY Oneonta Observatory at College Camp | |||||||
The JMI website quotes the cost of the telescope at $159,000.[1] The JMI design is more cost-effective than other telescopes because of its dobsonian mount and optical system. SUNY Oneonta acquired the telescope in 2006 for less than $150,000.[2] After construction of a new dedicated observatory building, the telescope had a "first light" ceremony on May 30, 2009.[2]
The observatory is located off the main campus of SUNY Oneonta at the Oneonta College Camp, and contains several instruments. There is a 16-inch Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) and a 14-inch Celestron CGE1400 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, each housed under separate domes and permanently mounted. Also available for observing are two 8-inch Celestron NexStar SCTs, a 10-inch Orion XT10 dobsonian, an 11-inch Celestron CGE1100, and JMI RB-66 reverse binoculars. For data acquisition, students can use a research-grade SBIG STL-1001E CCD imaging system, a high-resolution SBIG spectrograph, and a photoelectric photometer. The college hosts regular public viewing sessions, generally on designated dates once a month year-round.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "JMI On-line Catalog 40" New Technology Telescope". JMI Telescopes. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
- ^ a b c Richardson, Denise (2009-05-27). "On the Bright Side: SUNY Oneonta to unveil state's largest optical telescope". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
