Astronomical Research Westfield observatory

On a 40-acre farm at Westfield, Illinois, the Astronomical Research Institute (ARI) operates a bank of robotic telescopes dedicated to hunting near-Earth objects, under skies dark enough to be lit by just three pole lights.

About the observatory

ARI moved its main operations here from Charleston, Illinois, in 2008-2009 to escape encroaching light pollution. The Westfield site's darker skies improve the observatory's limiting magnitude by roughly 0.9 during new moon periods, letting its telescopes pick out fainter objects.

Telescopes & research

The observatory runs four robotic telescopes: a 50-inch, a 32-inch, a 30-inch, and a 24-inch, including a custom-built 24-inch carbon fibre Astro-Research Optical Tube Assembly, a fully robotic 32-inch Astro-Research telescope, and a 30-inch Auto-Scope. Researcher Robert Holmes was responsible for nearly half of all near-Earth object measurements worldwide as of 2011, and the site forms part of NASA's asteroid detection network.

Location & getting there

The observatory sits on a 40-acre property near Westfield, Illinois, chosen specifically for its unusually dark rural skies.

Visiting

As a working robotic research facility geared toward asteroid tracking, it's best to contact ARI directly for any visiting or collaboration enquiries.

See your named star from here

With four robotic telescopes trained on faint, moving targets every clear night, this observatory has the precision to locate the fixed coordinates of a named star as well. Look up your star's position in the star catalogue before reaching out.