Planetarium Solar Telescope




The telescope in the planetarium garden was built by the Department of Physics and Astrononomy and installed soon after the facility opened in its new home. Its purpose is to offer an interactive way for visitors to see sunspots safely and it has a unique design that allows for pointing the telescope by hand, guided by its shadow on the ground. The image of the Sun is projected onto a 15 centimeter diameter screen, the same size as the telescope's objective lens. The optical path from the projection lens near the focus to the screen is enclosed in a transparent cylinder providing protection from accidental exposure to the intense light in that space. The objective is covered by a transparent polycarbonate window which protects it from weather, and from fingers. The external housing is aluminum, colorfully anodized to simulate classical brass telescopes. The finish has withstood more than a decade of exposure to seasonal elements. Inside the tube, a commercial 6-inch doublet refractor is fixed in place. The eyepiece creating the image is the same one used by Professor Walter Moore in his steady monitoring of sunspots 50 years ago. Our Moore Observatory is named in his honor, and this telescope continues the science and teaching he enjoyed in his long career at the university.







Last update: September 16, 2022
kielkopf at louisville dot edu