The Goodricke-Pigott Observatory is a private

astronomical 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. H ...

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. It was formally dedicated on October 26, 1996, and observations began that evening with imaging of Comet Hale–Bopp. The observatory is named after John Goodricke and Edward Pigott, two late-eighteenth century

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

s who lived in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

, England.

Observatory telescopes

The observatory opened with a Celestron C14, 0.35-meter aperture, f/11 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. This instrument has been upgraded with a new optics lens and a new clock drive, and an ST-4 star tracker was attached to the telescope's side to correct a two-minute, ten-arc second periodic motional error. There is another telescope dubbed MOTESS (Moving Object and Transient Event Search System) which is essentially a giant camera aimed at the sky.

References

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Observatory telescopes

See also

References