Kopernik Space Center
Encyclopedia
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
in Vestal, New York
Vestal, New York
Vestal is a town within Broome County in the Southern Tier of New York, and lies between the Susquehanna River and the Pennsylvania border. As of the 2000 census, the population was 26,535, estimated to have grown to 27,369 in 2009....
. In addition to operating a scientific observatory, the facility also provides outreach programs for community children, educating them about astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
.
Following the 500th anniversary of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance astronomer and the first person to formulate a comprehensive heliocentric cosmology which displaced the Earth from the center of the universe....
(called Mikolaj Kopernik in Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) in 1973, the Space Center was built by the Kopernik Society of Broome County and opened to the public in June 1974.
The observatory has three telescopes, a 6" Astrophysics Refractor, 14" Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain, and a 20" Ritchey-Chretien telescope. The observatory has a pool of students called the Kopernik Talent Search that take classes on Friday nights and Saturdays. During the week local schools have field trips, where students can safely observe the sun and see planets in the daytime. Kopernik also has a large summer program that includes one and two week residential institutes for middle school and high school students.
Roberson, a local museum that provided funding for Kopernik, was seriously considering cutting major funding and programs. However, the Kopernik Society of Broome County negotiated this matter with Roberson Museum and Science Center. Ownership and operation of the Kopernik Space Education Center has been transferred from Roberson Museum back to the Kopernik Society. The Space Center seeks funding from industry and governmental agencies.