Glenlea Magnetic Observatory

South of Winnipeg on the University of Manitoba's experimental farm, the Glenlea Magnetic Observatory once tracked the Earth's geomagnetic field from a modest trailer and sensor shelters beside the Red River.

About Glenlea Magnetic Observatory

Glenlea Magnetic Observatory was a geomagnetic monitoring station, not an astronomical one, established in 1980 about 30 kilometres south of the university campus and only 70 metres from the Red River. Its layout of an electronics trailer paired with instrument shelters, including a non-magnetic D&I theodolite, became a template used elsewhere in the Canadian Magnetic Observatory Network.

History

The station operated for 17 years before environmental damage forced its closure in 1997. Tornado-like winds rolled its instrument trailer in the summer of 1995, and Red River flooding struck the site in both May 1996 and May 1997. Its geomagnetic monitoring role was eventually transferred to the Brandon Geophysical Observatory in 2007.

Location & getting there

The former station sits in Manitoba, Canada, on riverside land near the University of Manitoba's Glenlea Research Station south of Winnipeg. As a decommissioned facility, it is not set up for visitors today.

Visiting Glenlea Magnetic Observatory

Glenlea Magnetic Observatory closed in 1997 and is no longer an active or visitable site. Its geomagnetic monitoring duties now continue at the Brandon Geophysical Observatory.

See your named star from here

While this particular station tracked magnetic fields rather than stars, the region it monitored still shares the same prairie sky. If you'd like to name a star of your own, Star Register can help you find and view it through the star catalogue at an active observatory nearby.