The campus has been home to the Maynard F. Jordan Observatory since 1901. This planetarium and observatory were built away from the old observatory at a location at the east end of Long Road on the fringes of campus, behind the parking lot off Rangeley Road, where the skies are darker.
This, the Emera Astronomy Center Observatory, is home to the new Maynard F. Jordan Observatory, which houses a 20-inch digital astroimaging reflector
PlaneWave CDK20 telescope, by Planewave Instruments, the largest in Maine. The telescope is completely digital, controlled by computer and with a digital camera mounted in place of an eyepiece. The center will include innovative exterior lighting designed to help preserve the dark-sky critical to enhanced stargazing.
The center will be heated with geothermal heat pumps – the first building at UMaine to benefit from this energy efficient electric technology.
Apparently, this observatory will, in future, be open to the public.
A collection of exposures from the new telescope can be
Viewed Here.
Technical and other information taken from
Emera Maine