MSU Observatory - East Lansing, Michigan
Posted by: 
GT.US
N 42° 42.389 W 084° 29.034
16T E 706062 N 4731290
The MSU Observatory is on the Michigan State University Campus.
Waymark Code: WM7085
Location: Michigan, United States
Date Posted: 08/13/2009
Views: 19
The Observatory is open one weekend a month for public viewing.
The History on the Observatory website at (
visit link) tells us, in part:
"The observatory building was mostly completed in 1969, with the installation of the 24-inch Ritchey-Chretien reflecting telescope, built by the Boller & Chivens division of the Perkin-Elmer Corporation, following in 1970. The Boller & Chivens company built many similar sized telescopes in the 1960s and 70s, but the Michigan State University telescope was one of only a few to be equipped with a coude focus option, as well as the usual focus behind the primary mirror. The six-inch refracting telescope, on the same mounting as the 24-inch, was installed at the same time as the larger telescope. The observatory was officially dedicated in 1971. In 1974, the addition of a Raytheon computer allowed the telescope to be fully computer controlled. At the time of its construction, the site of the observatory, on agricultural land south of the main campus, was still relatively dark, and free of the light pollution present on the busier parts of the campus. "
Visit Instructions:Note the time of day of your visit, and your own photo of your favorite part of the observatory. This might be the view from the observatory, picture of your favorite building or favorite exhibit. (Be mindful of flash photography rules!)
If you participated in an observing session, let everyone know what you saw!