Harold E. Taylor Observatory - Pomona, NJ - People-Named Places on Waymarking.com

Built in 1976, the observatory was Taylor's pet project. For decades, the domed structure hosted monthly public viewings. It was named in memory of Taylor, an astrophysics professor at Stockton, after his death in 2002.

The Observatory is a 16 foot diameter Ash dome housing a 0.4 m (16-inch) Meade LX 200 Schmidt-Cassegrain computer controlled telescope, as its main instrument and a 125 mm (5-inch) auxiliary telescope. This new 0.4m telescope replaced the former telescope which had been in operation for over twenty-five years. Astrovideo and Digital CCD cameras can be attached to the telescopes for capturing images to display on monitors during classes and special events.

Due to equipment problems all public viewing sessions have been cancelled until further notice. The cost of maintaining and staffing the observatory, plus the increased influence of light pollution, diminished its effectiveness. Today, it is open only to students who take a campus astronomy class. The Stockton observatory did get a new 16-foot telescope in 2001, but the structure still cannot accommodate a crowd. It will remain limited to student use unless a private donor were to step up to fund an upgrade.

Harold E. Taylor, Haverford College, MIT, and University of Iowa alumnus, was a Professor of Physics at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey for over 30 years. As one of the original faculty members, Hal did research and instructed in the subjects of Astrophysics, Meteorology, Astronomy, Electronics, and general Physics. One of the research projects Hal instrumented was a large groundwater source heat-pump system to heat and cool the entire academic complex at Stockton. This geothermal well-based system saves the institution around US$500,000 per year in electricity for heating and cooling. Hal also chaired the local Amnesty International chapter in Atlantic County, New Jersey. Hal died in December 2001. The college has since renamed the campus observatory, which he helped facilitate in 1974, in his honor. SOURCE

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