The C.E.K. Mees Observatory is UR's main tool for education and public outreach in observational astronomy. It consists of a computer-controlled 24-inch cassegrain telescope with a tracking dome, located on a dark mountaintop and outfitted for visible-light astronomy with research-grade CCD cameras and medium/low-resolution spectrographs. Find out more about it here.
Kelly
Douglass is Director of Mees Observatory. She and faculty
colleague
Dan Watson
are often engaged in upgrading and maintaining the telescope and
instruments, and in teaching students,
amateur astronomers, and faculty colleagues how to use them. Mees Observatory image |
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Some presentable data taken at Mees -- click for full-size version. Images are LRGB color unless otherwise indicated. |
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M 101 | M 51 | M 109 | NGC 5985/ 5982 |
NGC 7331 | NGC 2685 | NGC 5866 | ||
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M 95, a Milky-Way-like barred
spiral galaxy about 30 million light years away. |
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B 335 | M 42/M 43, LRHaGB | M 42/M 43, L-[S II]-Ha-[O III] |
NGC 7538 | NGC 7635 | M 27, LRHaGB | M 1 | ||
Exoplanets |
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WASP-10 b | Qatar-1 b | TOI-2046 b | Qatar-4 b | TOI-4012 b | ||||
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M 15, a globular stellar
cluster in our Milky Way Galaxy, 33,000 light years away. |
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Mees Observatory computer desktop wallpaper |
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Available here in three 16x9 HD formats. Ask Dan if you'd like a different format. |
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3840x2160: 4k, 2160p | 2880x1620: 3k, 1620p | 1920x1080: 2k, 1080p | |
The Deer Lick galaxy
group: true-color LRGB 15.4 arcmin x
8.7 arcmin image, 2.5 h total exposure time, taken 26 September 2017. |
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Available here in three 16x9 HD formats. Ask Dan if you'd like a different format. |
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3840x2160: 4k, 2160p | 2880x1620: 3k, 1620p | 1920x1080: 2k, 1080p | |
H II regions on the
Cassiopeia-Cepheus border: true-color LRGB 27.4 arcmin x
15.4 arcmin image, 5 h total exposure time, taken 2 August 2016. |
C.E.K. Mees Observatory --- Department of Physics & Astronomy --- University of Rochester --- Rochester, NY 14627-0171