Geneva Observatory

• Background of Astronomy Observing at Geneva
• Planned Uses of the Observatory
• Research Projects
• Technical Specifications of Equipment
• Fundraising Needs

The John Paul Schaefer Memorial Observatory is named in honor of the father of Mr. John Schaefer, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Geneva, who retired in 2012 after a 50 year career at Geneva. The observatory is located to the west of the campus baseball field on 33rd Street. It consists of a 10’ domed structure to house the main 16” telescope and a control building for computers and storage of other observing equipment.  The open field next to the dome can be used for viewing events with smaller portable telescopes for classes and the public.

Background of Astronomy Observing at Geneva

Because of an unusually large class studying Astronomy, The Geneva Cabinet makes the case for procuring a telescope for the college in November of 1881, "The time has now come when we can no longer do without this important instrument…A telescope placed (with permission) upon the college grounds could be made the source of immense satisfaction and profit, not only to those and other students, but to amateurs and visitors outside the college" (The Cabinet, November, 1881, p. 2.). It is clear that the subject of Astronomy has been of great interest to students of Geneva College throughout the years, and many have had the opportunity to observe and learn about the handiwork of God in the classroom.

Recently, several faculty at Geneva have discovered the Brashear 6” refracting telescope on a wooden tripod that seems to be over 90 years old in a storage room. After some investigation by Geneva's Archival Librarian Kae Kirkwood, it became known that the telescope had been donated to the college in 1915.

Cabinet articles from 1915 reveal, "A fine new telescope, valued at $700, is placed in the Science Hall as a gift of a loyal friend of Geneva who wishes his name withheld. This is a replacement for the old telescope which was lost in the fire which destroyed Science Hall several years ago, leaving the Astronomy classes seriously crippled in their work. The new instrument is a great improvement over the one that was destroyed. It was built by the John A. Brashear company of North Side, Pittsburgh, Pa. This object gives beautiful views of the moon and the comets, and its light collecting power is so perfect as to bring out the ring system of the planet Saturn in great detail, showing the inner, or crepe ring. The eye piece gives magnification from 300 down to 65 diameters, so that observations may be made of the moon, planets, double stars, clusters, and nebulas." The article further describes efforts to build a small observatory, "It is the purpose of the college authorities to build an Observatory in the near future and to mount this fine instrument in permanent form" (The Cabinet, March, 1915, p. 4; April, 1915, p. 9.). Though much has changed since 1915, Geneva continues to build upon the astronomical legacy of former generations.

Beginning in the early 1960s when John Schaefer joined the faculty, a regular course in Astronomy was re-introduced into the college catalog, and a fenced viewing platform was included on the roof of the 1966 S&E addition. Evening viewing sessions with a 6” Newtonian telescope were a regular feature in the late 1970s, led by physics student John Hill, now a professional astronomer with the Large Binocular Telescope project in Arizona. However, to fast forward a few decades, the roof of S&E ceased to be a satisfactory viewing area as campus lighting was improved and surrounding trees grew tall enough to block the view.

In the mid-1990s, faculty members John Schaefer and John Stein obtained a small grant from the National Science Foundation to build a small block structure next to Alumni Hall to house a 10” reflector telescope. This was intended as a proof-of-concept structure, and was successfully used for student projects and also to develop an Observational Astronomy course. In 2005, this structure was dismantled to make way for campus improvements, and the lessons learned were incorporated into the current observatory design. During this time, a major memorial gift was given in memory of John Paul Schaefer, the father of Professor John Schaefer. Also, John Stein successfully obtained grant funds from the Extrasolar Planetary Foundation to purchase a larger telescope. These funds, together with other alumni contributions, have made the present observatory possible.

Planned Uses of the Observatory

The main 16” telescope will be used for a variety of student projects and for faculty research. Within the general Astronomy class, students will take accurate measurements of shadow lengths on the moon and do calculations to find the height of mountains and crater rims. Observations of galaxies, binary stars, and moons within our solar system will also be possible. In the advanced Observational Astronomy class, higher level projects will be possible, including stellar photometry of variable stars, exoplanet transits and asteroid rotation curves.  In the field next to the observatory, which also has reasonably good viewing conditions, we will hold general viewing sessions with our portable telescopes (8” and 10” reflectors and maybe even the classic Brashear refractor) as well as binoculars and naked eye viewing of constellations and (as opportunity permits) comets. It is anticipated that open viewing nights will be held for the campus community, for alumni events and for the general public. Because the main 16” telescope will be computer interfaced, remote operation will be possible for advanced student projects and faculty research.

Research Projects

Two major types of research are planned at this time.  We are interested in using the telescope to monitor stars for variations in intensity over time which can provide evidence of the transit of a planet. “Exoplanets,” as they are called are generally too dim to be viewed directly, but detection will be possible using this “transit” technique.

The other research activity a telescope of this size can do relates to monitoring orbital changes in Near-Earth Objects (mostly asteroids whose orbits cross that of Earth). There is considerable interest in learning more about such objects in the wake of recent episodes of near-Earth approaches of asteroids.

We anticipate submitting a proposal to NASA to become a member station of NASA’s All Sky Fireball Network (a meteor tracking network), which would involve installing wide-angle cameras to monitor the whole sky.  For more information, see http://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/.

Technical Specifications of Equipment

Main Telescope
Meade LX600 ACF

Computer
Processor: Intel Core i7-4770 3.4Ghz w/8M cache
Memory: 16GB DDR3 1600MHz (2-8GB)
Hard Drives: 1.0 TB, Serial (2ea, fixed) and 10.0 TB (2ea, portable)

Software
Starry Night
MaxIm DL
ASCOM Platform 61

Portable Telescopes
10” Meade LX200 (Classic)
8”  Meade LX90 ACF
6”  Brashear Refractor

Dome manufacturer
ExploraDome

Fundraising needs

The observatory is nearly operational for ordinary viewing, having been built with existing funds and the help of Geneva’s physical plant staff. Eyepiece viewing is possible now. However, for the full project to be completed, the telescope will need cameras and additional scientific instrumentation.  The specific items needed and their costs appear in the table below. Specific contributions to help acquire any of these items would benefit a new generation of physics, computer science, and engineering students who are fascinated with the heavens.

Item	Specific Instrument	Cost
Main CCD Camera	SBIG STXL-603E*	$7600
Guide Camera	SBIG ST-i	$600
Finder Camera + Installation Kit	SBIG ST-i	$900
Focusing System	JMI Smart Focus + 2" Focuser**	$1100
Cloud Sensor	Boltwood II***	$1800
All-Sky Camera	SBIG All Sky340	$2200
Atmospheric Seeing Monitor	SBIG Seeing Monitor	$2900
Drive Training & Polar Alignment Software	PEMpro****	$200
Filter wheel		$2000
Ongoing maintenance costs		$5,000

* SBIG: The Santa Barbara Instrument Group
** JMI Telescopes
*** Diffraction Limited
**** CCDWare

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