LAS
Observing Site
LAS now owns a very nice, and quite dark, 39.5 acre plot of land in southern Indiana. There is a large clearing of several acres on the northeast corner of the plot. The observing site is the field on the left (west) side of the gravel road along the second half of its current length. There are good horizons all around. The horizon to the east in completely clear. The land slopes off gently to the south which also has a clear horizon. To the west the property slopes down into a wooded area - which has already been logged. Brian developed a schematic of the property. A road map to the site is also available. And for those who think a picture is worth a thousand words, we also have color aerial view 1 and view 2. Our thanks to Randy Beachler who took these on 10/29/00. There is also an older black and white aerial view taken before we started work on the site.
In June, 2004, the LAS Observatory was completed at our Dark Site. It is a roll-off roof observatory with a 20' X 20' observing area and a 7' X 20' control/warm room. Their are five pier locations. The central pier has a Meade 16" reflector scope donated by Brother Christian of the Trappist Monastery. The other observatory telescopes include a Meade 178ED 7" refractor donated by Alan Kane of Louisville. It has a Meade 1697 computer system and an LX750 German equatorial mount. Our CCD imaging scope is a Meade LX200 12" SC with Robo Focus and computer drive. The observatory may be reserved by members and is open to the public monthly.
As of September 9, 2004, the Curby Dark Site now has restroom facilities. They are located in a renovated mobile home which will be the Office, Library, Meeting Room, and Storage Facility. Completion of the trailer is expected by November, 2004.
There are also two observing fields that can accommodate dozens of scopes and cars. Future plans call for a Picnic Shelter and a 15' Domed Observatory to house our 7" Refractor.
Two of our members have taken GPS units to the location of our observatory building. They report slightly different coordinates for the site:
- Randy: N 38° 16.41' W 86° 24.86'
- Mike: N 38° 16.45' W 86° 24.88'
The physical address of the property is:
3192 E. Curby Rd.
English, IN 47118
A photo album shows the progress of our Observatory Construction. We'd like to develop programs to share this site and the wonders of the night sky with the public - especially school age children. More immediately, it will be a great place to go set up our telescopes! There's plenty to do - lots of room for everyone to get involved.
Visitors of This Page Since 2/27/02
