View source for Hopkins Observatory

{{Infobox Observatory
|name = Hopkins Observatory
|image = [[Image:Williams College - Hopkins Observatory.JPG|250px]]
|caption = Hopkins Observatory.
|organization = [[Williams College]]
|location = [[Williamstown, Massachusetts]], [[United States|USA]]
|coords = 42.711494, -73.201741
|altitude = ? m (? ft)
|weather = 
|established = 1838
|closed = 
|website=[http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/Hopkins Hopkins Observatory]
|telescope1_name = Main telescope
|telescope1_type = 7" refractor
}}

'''Hopkins Observatory'''  is an [[astronomy|astronomical]] [[observatory]] owned and operated by [[Williams College]] in [[Williamstown, Massachusetts|Williamstown]], [[Massachusetts]] (USA).  Constructed in 1838 by Albert Hopkins, the college claims that it is the oldest observatory in the United States.

The observatory dates to 1834 when Prof. Albert Hopkins traveled to [[England]] to obtain astronomical equipment. His students constructed the observatory 1836-1838 in the center of the quad. It was moved once in 1908 and again to its present location in 1961, where it now serves as a planetarium. Today's building still contains the original transit, regulator with mercury-compensated pendulum, and rule.

The museum's second director, [[Truman Henry Safford]], was a calculating prodigy. In 1852 the firm of Alvan Clark ([[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]) built a 7" refracting telescope, which was restored for the observatory's sesquicentennial. In 1963 the [[planetarium]] projector was installed and named in memory of Willis Milham, professor of astronomy 1901-1942. The observatory's side rooms have become the Mehlin Museum of Astronomy in memory of Theodore Mehlin, professor of astronomy 1942-1971.

== See also ==
*[[List of astronomical observatories]]

==References==
# {{cite web | title=Hopkins Observatory Homepage| work=Hopkins Observatory  | url=http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/Hopkins/ | access-date=December 14, 2005 }}

==External links==
*[http://cleardarksky.com/c/HpknsObMAkey.html?1 Hopkins Observatory Clear Sky Clock] Forecasts of observing conditions.

{{Williams College}}
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{{Coord|42.71167|-73.20167|type:landmark_source:USNO/HMNAO|display=title}}

[[Category:Williams College]]
[[Category:Astronomical observatories in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Berkshire County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:History of Berkshire County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Berkshire County, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Williamstown, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1838 establishments in Massachusetts]]


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