Laws Observatory is the name of three separate
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 ...
observatories
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 ...
owned and operated by
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
from 1880 to the present. Named after former University President
Samuel Laws
Samuel Spahr Laws (March 23, 1824 – January 9, 1921) was an American minister, professor, physician, college president, businessman and inventor best known today as the inventor of the Laws Gold Indicator, a predecessor of the ticker tape mac ...
, it is located in
Columbia,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
(USA).
History
The University of Missouri Observatory was originally built in 1853 near
Academic Hall
Academic Hall was the original main building of the University of Missouri. It was dedicated in 1843 and destroyed by fire in 1892. Academic Hall's six Ionic columns, today known as The Columns, stand on Francis Quadrangle as the most recog ...
. The original site is now occupied by the Engineering East building. The observatory was equipped with a 4 1/16 inch Henry Fitz refractor, and it was the first observatory in the western United States.
In 1879, MU offered $500 cash and the Fitz telescope in exchange for a 7½ inch
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
-built equatorial refractor by Merz and Soehne from the failing
Shelby College
Shelbyville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Shelby County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,282 at the 2020 census.
History
Early history
The town of Shelbyville was established in October 1792 at the first me ...
in
Shelbyville, Kentucky
Shelbyville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Shelby County, Kentucky, Shelby County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 17,282 at the 2020 census.
History
Early history
The town of Shelbyville ...
. Shelby College agreed to the exchange, but MU found that it could not afford the transportation and reassembly of the Merz and Soehne telescope along with an adequate facility to house it. University President
Samuel S. Laws stepped in and provided $2,000 of his own money to transport the telescope and begin construction of a new observatory. When the new observatory was constructed, the part that constituted the cone, clock room, and transit room were actually part of the original observatory, and those parts were moved to the new location for the construction of the new Laws Observatory on the north side of the Quadrangle in 1880. An office was added to the building in 1891, and classroom space was added in 1907. An R. Brown Gans-built 4½ inch equatorial refractor was also added to the observatory in 1907. In 1912, a 5-inch Brashear photographic doublet was mounted on the 7½ inch Merz. The observatory was torn down in 1919 to make way for construction of
Neff Hall.
In 1920, the observatory was rebuilt on its third location, which is now the site of the west parking lot of the Harry S. Truman Veterans Hospital.
See also
*
List of observatories
This is a partial 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 lon ...
References
#
External links
Columbia Clear Sky ClockForecasts of observing conditions covering Laws Observatory.
{{Authority control
Astronomical observatories in Missouri
University of Missouri buildings and structures
Demolished buildings and structures in Columbia, Missouri
Buildings and structures demolished in 1919