Shattuck Observatory

Today some members of the Antique Telescope Society traveled to the Shattuck Observatory at Dartmouth College.  It is a classical observatory built in 1854.  It is a beautiful building and houses three telescopes, one in the dome at the center, and two in the building at the right.

This is the largest telescope in the observatory, a 9.5" refractor in the dome.  Recently this beautiful observatory was threatened with destruction because the college wanted to build a huge dormitory on the property.  Fortunately, for the time being, those plans were cancelled because of the cost and difficulties of building a large dormitory on a stone ledge.  But will it be postponed forever?  It would be a shame to loose this historical building.

I climbed up the ladder in the observatory and took this photograph of the telescope, and what interested me was the color and pattern of the inside of the dome, painted gray-blue.  I am looking at the front end of the telescope, where the objective is located, but because of the lighting you can't see the glass.