Bayfordbury Observatory is the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

and

atmospheric physics Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, rad ...

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...

, and one of the largest teaching observatories in the UK. It is located in the relatively dark countryside of

Bayfordbury Bayfordbury, Hertfordshire, is a large Grade II* listed country house with surrounding parkland, and the location of a University of Hertfordshire campus, housing its biology/geography field station and observatory. History of Bayfordbury Bayfo ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, 6 miles from the main university campus in Hatfield. The first telescope was built in 1969, and since then has been used as a teaching observatory for undergraduate students, staff and student research as well as for public outreach activities.

History

The first telescope, a 16-inch Newtonian/ Cassegrain

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

, was built on the site in 1969, one year after astronomy was first taught at the

Hatfield Polytechnic The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was identified a ...

. In 1970 the observatory was formally opened by Richard van der Riet Woolley, then

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the astronomer royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the astronomer royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The Astro ...

. Over the years the number of telescopes has increased along with the size of astronomy department. On the 30th anniversary in 2000, the observatory underwent a large renovation. Three new telescope domes and a 4.5m radio telescope were built, as well as a control building, opened and named after Sir

Patrick Moore Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter. Moore's early interest in astro ...

, from where the computer-controlled telescopes can be operated and images analysed.

Astronomical observatory

The observatory has seven permanently mounted main

optical telescopes An optical telescope gathers and focuses light mainly from the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, to create a magnified image for direct visual inspection, to make a photograph, or to collect data through electronic image sensors. ...

, the first being the 20-inch J.C.D Marsh

Cassegrain Telescope The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, relative to th ...

, and the largest is a Planewave CDK24 24-inch telescope. The other telescopes include four equatorially mounted,

robotic Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

16-inch Meade LX200s as well as a 14-inch Meade LX200. These telescopes are equipped with research-grade CCD and

CMOS Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS, pronounced "sea-moss ", , ) is a type of MOSFET, metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) semiconductor device fabrication, fabrication process that uses complementary an ...

cameras,

spectrograph An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...

s and

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

cameras. A number of smaller telescopes are co-mounted to the main telescopes to act as guidescopes, widefield telescopes or

H-alpha Hydrogen-alpha, typically shortened to H-alpha or Hα, is a deep-red visible spectral line of the hydrogen atom with a wavelength of 656.28 nm in air and 656.46 nm in vacuum. It is the first spectral line in the Balmer series and is em ...

solar telescope A solar telescope or a solar observatory is a special-purpose telescope used to observe the Sun. Solar telescopes usually detect light with wavelengths in, or not far outside, the visible spectrum. Obsolete names for Sun telescopes include helio ...

s. As well as using optical wavelengths, the observatory also has extensive

radio astronomy Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies Astronomical object, celestial objects using radio waves. It started in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observat ...

capabilities. The largest

radio telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna (radio), antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the r ...

is the 4.5m R.W. Forrest telescope which is used for receiving the 21cm Hydrogen line and continuum emission. A further three 3m radio telescopes are soon to operate together as a 115 metre baseline

interferometer Interferometry is a technique which uses the '' interference'' of superimposed waves to extract information. Interferometry typically uses electromagnetic waves and is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber opt ...

. A nearby university science building houses a

planetarium A planetarium (: planetariums or planetaria) is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entertaining shows about astronomy and the night sky, or for training in celestial navigation. A dominant feature of most planetariums is ...

used during open evenings and groups visits. The roof of the building hosts a number of the observatory's sensing equipment including a Sky Quality Meter for quantifying levels of light pollution, a coelostat for observing the Sun, and day and night-tim
all-sky cameras
- two of six the university operates throughout the UK. The university organises a variety of public outreach events including monthly open evenings from October till March and group visits for school classes and community groups.

Atmospheric physics remote sensing

Since 2010 the observatory has also grown to serve as a

station for the university's Centre for Atmospheric & Instrumentation Research. A former telescope dome now houses a remotely operable mount with a micropulse

LIDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

/ ceilometer, ultra-sensitive

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

polarimeter A polarimeter is a scientific instrument used to measure optical rotation: the angle of rotation caused by passing linearly polarized light through an Optical activity, optically active substance. Some chemical substances are optically active, ...

and a cirrus-detecting

infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

pyrometer A pyrometer, or radiation thermometer, is a type of remote sensing thermometer used to measure the temperature of distant objects. Various forms of pyrometers have historically existed. In the modern usage, it is a device that from a distance de ...

, with further plans to add an infrared spectropolarimeter in the near-future. The roof of the nearby science building also hosts an automatic Sun photometer and lunar photometer as part of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

AERONET network, a scanning infrared

radiometer A radiometer or roentgenometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux (power) of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, a radiometer is an infrared radiation detector or an ultraviolet detector. Microwave radiometers operate in the micro ...

, a pyrgeometer and

pyranometer A pyranometer () is a type of actinometer used for measuring solar irradiance on a planar surface and it is designed to measure the solar radiation flux density (W/m2) from the hemisphere above within a wavelength range 0.3 μm to 3 μm. A typ ...

, as well as day and night-time all-sky cameras.

Gallery

File:Marsh telescope (11928047634).jpg, 20" Marsh Telescope File:Kitchin_Telescope_(11927718225).jpg, Kitchin Telescope File:Planetarium_(9197608147).jpg, The planetarium at Bayfordbury File:RW_Forrest_radio_telescope_(9192659822).jpg, The 4.5m R.W. Forrest radio telescope File:LiDAR_(6964213031).jpg, The micropulse LIDAR

References

External links

Bayfordbury Observatory Website

Images from Bayfordbury Observatory on Flickr

University of Hertfordshire AllSky Cameras
* {{coord , 51, 46, 30, N, 00, 05, 40, W, display=title University of Hertfordshire Astronomical observatories in England Meteorological observatories Planetaria in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Hertfordshire Robotic telescopes Astronomy in the United Kingdom 1969 establishments in England