The Pine Bluff Observatory (PBO) is an
astronomical
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies ...
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
located in the town of
Cross Plains, Wisconsin
Cross Plains is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,104 at the 2020 census. The village is located partially within the Town of Cross Plains. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
...
(
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
) about west of
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
. PBO is owned and operated by the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
(UW-Madison). It opened in 1958, and is mainly used by students and faculty of UW-Madison for instruction and research. PBO also provides a facility for testing new instruments.
Recent research conducted at PBO includes measuring the lunar sodium tail, monitoring
circumstellar disks
A circumstellar disc (or circumstellar disk) is a torus, pancake or ring-shaped accretion disk of matter composed of gas, dust, planetesimals, asteroids, or collision fragments in orbit around a star. Around the youngest stars, they are the re ...
around
Be stars
Be stars are a heterogeneous set of stars with B spectral types and emission lines. A narrower definition, sometimes referred to as ''classical Be stars'', is a non-supergiant B star whose spectrum has, or had at some time, one or more Balmer e ...
, and studying the
warm ionized medium.
See also
*
Washburn Observatory
The Washburn Observatory ( obs. code: 753) is an astronomical observatory located at 1401 Observatory Drive on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Completed in 1881, it was a major research facility ...
*
List of astronomical observatories
This is a list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no longer in ...
References
External links
Department of Astronomyat University of Wisconsin–Madison
Forecasts of observing conditions.
Astronomical observatories in Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Buildings and structures in Dane County, Wisconsin
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