It was a large part of my life. A small cloud may have drifted over the future of the historic Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay. The site is high and beautifully located, the atmosphere is clear, without danger from the encroachment of manufactories, railroads, or electric lights.". I’d donate his spectroscope if you find a way to keep Yerkes Observatory alive. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 31 contributions 6 helpful votes. The decision to turn Yerkes and its … His plate holder/camera can be seen at the Newtonian focus, on the upper left of the tube. Due to financial investment losses caused by the Great Chicago Fire, Quaker-raised turned stock broker, Charles Tyson Yerkes, moved from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Chicago, Illinois in 1881 to turn his ruin to riches. During the summer of ~1970 I taught a summer science class for high school students in the Hyde Park area of Chicago. One evening we drove up to Yerkes and spent about 4 hours (after formal observations were done for the night) using the 40" Clark refractor, often slewing by hand, viewing the most magnificent views of a dozen well known objects. The university applied for the village to amend its comprehensive plan to allow for the zoning change shortly after donating about 40-acres of land and the Yerkes Observatory building to the Yerkes Future Foundation in March 2019. The Yerkes Observatory’s archive of astrophysical data runs parallel to Bolen’s attempts to create a visual language for that which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Dean, thanks for your article on the re-opening of the Yerkes Observatory. StarLight Festival, May 26 & 27, 2018 is a free hands on celebration of science and astronomy at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin! The University of Chicago announced in March that it would close the observatory to the public---but---maintain a minimal operation for educational and research programs. The observatory is on the west side of the village of Williams Bay, Wisconsin, on the bank of Lake Geneva, 76 miles from Chicago. I recall how that experience reminded me of the first time I ever had such a feeling, when I stepped into the larger observatory (housing a 12-inch Clark refractor) of Leslie C. Peltier in late August of 1971. gazing in awe up at this beautiful, long white refractor pointed skyward above me, and the wonderful views it gave of Vega, the first-quarter moon, and the Ring Nebula. Credit: Huntington Library/ Carnegie Observatories. Over the past year, Colman along with other members of the YFF consulted with experts in the field of informal science education to develop a sustaining model for the future of Yerkes. The largest mirrors that can be produced there are 8.4 meters, and LSST has one of them. By: Roger W. Sinnott Yerkes Observatory, a historic, castle-like building built to house a gigantic telescope, may soon reopen if all goes according to plan. Despite the turn of events for Leslie's observatory, I think a photo posted somewhere in Delphos or on the pages of Sky & Telescope would serve much good to his followers. Rebecca Chen and Lindsay Berkhout are sophomore physics majors at the University of Chicago. Yerkes is strongly tied to the quaint community in which it resides. I did my best for Leslie, I just wish I had known more back then. Hale sends an intriguing letter to transit magnate, Charles Tyson Yerkes, requesting an interview. With just the staff as witnesses. I was married there on a beautiful August day to a beautiful lady. Astronomers, historians, and telescope enthusiasts around the world feared the worst: that Yerkes would never open again. What happened? By: Dean Regas - The Great-Grandchildren of Charles Tyson Yerkes. Yerkes Observatory is the observing facility of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Chicago and is devoted to research in astronomy and astrophysics, as well as graduate education. What do you do with a 19th-century observatory?  In April 2018 the University of Chicago, owners of the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, announced that they had no practical use for such an observatory. The Yerkes Observatory is currently closed to the public and is expected to reopen in late 2019 or early 2020. All that remains today is a graffiti-covered pier enshrouded by tall bushes. “I’ve been there for weddings and other special events,” Colman said, “and every time I walk in there, I feel smarter.”  Now she wants to return Yerkes to the magical place she remembers. In the meantime, I continue to praise you and the staff of the Cincinnati Observatory for a wonderful historic location. Irene Osterbrock died on Saturday the 2 nd of February, 2019.. Irene Lenore Hansen Osterbrock was born on August 7, 1926, in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. Manufactures Warner & Swasey Company in Ohio are chosen to construct the mounting and telescope tube, while Alvin Clark & Sons Corporation in Massachusetts is contracted to grind the 40-inch disks. What else do you think it will take? The Observatory’s astronomical impact in science research would lead to the dedication of the Yerkes E and Yerkes V craters on the Moon. It houses the world's largest refracting telescope. Officials at the University of Chicago were tight-lipped, except to say that they were working on a possible scenario for the historic former astronomy center. Sky & Telescope is part of AAS Sky Publishing, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Astronomical Society. My heart sank when I read on these pages a while back of the closing of Yerkes. Bill Duncan, Williams Bay Village President, described Yerkes as, “the iconic image for the village.” When the University of Chicago announced the closure of the Observatory, he said, “village residents took it very badly.” Duncan explained that the residents have embraced the observatory over the years. Ownership was transferred to the non-profit Yerkes Future Foundation in May 2020. He would go on to acquire and develop more than half of Chicago's elevated train railway, helping make Chicago the largest cable railway system in the world. We know that it will take a strong community of support to ensure the Yerkes Observatory’s future for generations to come. The Yerkes Observatory was founded in 1897 by transit magnate, Charles Tyson Yerkes, to house the largest refracting telescope in the world, the Yerkes Telescope. As the University of Chicago moves its focus to other endeavors in science, the Yerkes Family is working to preserve the Yerkes Observatory and its legacy in the field of astronomy. Within the following weeks solar astronomer and Associate Professor of Astro-Physics at the University of Chicago, George Ellery Hale, overhears the story of two available 42-inch disks ordered from Mantois of Paris in 1889 by a failed observatory near Pasadena, California. 7, Yes, I would like to receive emails from Sky & Telescope. “Mr Warner and I have often been asked if building astronomical instruments is our only business, and sometimes I have answered,... that we get our money out of machinery and our glory out of telescopes.”, Following the announcement to build the World's Largest Telescope, twenty-seven sites are offered for the grounds of the Yerkes Observatory. As hope remains for Yerkes, let's get busy. 501 likes. Specifically Colman pointed to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, whose staff has mentored the group, as the standard for success. Yerkes Observatory, Williams Bay: See 327 reviews, articles, and 156 photos of Yerkes Observatory, ranked No.1 on Tripadvisor among 8 attractions in Williams Bay. ... Terri L wrote a review Nov 2019. For nearly all of 2019, the future of Yerkes Observatory hung in doubt. Maybe, this has already happened. The site is close to University of Wisconsin in Madison and grad students could use them..... I’ve been going to Yerkes for 50 years. Ritchey’s 24-inch reflector in one of the smaller domes at Yerkes Observatory. Today’s guestbook entry is from December 17, 1924, when Elizabeth Wight made a visit. Yerkes Observatory is an astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A. © 2018 The Charles Tyson Yerkes Family. After exhaustive surveying and seeking professional council March 28, 1893, a committee consisting of President William Rainey Harper and Martin A. Ryerson, President of the Board of Trustees, assisted by Hale as Head of the Astronomy Department announce: "Of all the locations offered that one which seems to your committee to possess the greatest number of advantages is Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. “A lemon in a garden of love”. After Leslie's passing in May of 1980, I tried to convince the people of Delphos, Ohio, to acquire and maintain this amazing observatory as a memorial to Leslie and an observatory for the public, but to no avail. Yerkes Observatory is CLOSED. A nonprofit plans to reopen the historic Yerkes Observatory In the past 122 years, Yerkes has hosted three Nobel laureates, the world’s largest … (You can unsubscribe anytime). Chicago’s Yerkes Observatory and Center for Elementary Math and Science Education (CEMSE), the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, the University of North Carolina,
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