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Astronomy Department at Yale University
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Leitner Family Observatory at Yale University
  The Leitner Family Observatory is located in Farnham Memorial Gardens near the corner of Edwards and Prospect Streets in New Haven (map to the observatory). The facility has two Ash domes which contain a 12" LX200 Meade telescope and a refurbished Grubb refractor that was originally purchased by the astronomy department to observe the 1882 transit of Venus. The 12" telescope can be controlled remotely from a warm room or over the internet. We have several detectors that can be used with the 12" telescope, include an SBIG ST-9E CCD camera and a DSS-7 spectrograph.

Between the domes there is an observing deck with permanent piers for four 8" telescopes.

The primary use of the observatory is undergraduate research and education. The facilities are used for astronomy classes at Yale College, such as Astronomy 155 and 255.

The observatory is also used for public outreach events, and it is open to the public on the first and third Thursday of the month, weather permitting. The interior space of the main building is being developed as a lecture hall and museum, and artifacts reflecting the history of the Yale astronomy departmenet are currrently on display.

LFO is also frequently used by STARRY, the Yale undergraduate astronomy club, which meets at the observatory on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month.

For more information, please contact the observatory director, Michael Faison