Boltwood Observatory

Boltwood Observatory is a private backyard observatory in Stittsville, a suburb of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, built by amateur astronomer Paul Boltwood.

About Boltwood Observatory

Boltwood constructed the observatory in the early 1990s and equipped it with a 16-inch telescope paired with a CCD camera of his own design. From this suburban site he carried out long-term monitoring of blazars, including OJ 287 and 3C 66A, contributing amateur data to the study of these highly variable, distant active galaxies.

Telescopes & research

The observatory's 16-inch telescope and custom CCD system were put to a striking test in 1998, when Boltwood entered the Sky & Telescope Deep Field Challenge. By stacking 767 combined images, he reached a limiting magnitude of 24.1, an exceptional result for an amateur setup, and won the challenge outright.

Location & getting there

The observatory sits in North America, in Stittsville on the western edge of Ottawa, Ontario. Check the map and directions button on this page for the current route.

Visiting Boltwood Observatory

As a private, home-based observatory, Boltwood Observatory isn't a public visitor attraction, so there's no general public access to confirm here.

See your named star from here

A named star comes with precise coordinates, the same kind of data amateur astronomers like Paul Boltwood use to track objects night after night. Browse the star catalogue to see where your star sits relative to the skies over Ontario.