Goodsell Observatory

Goodsell Observatory has watched over Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, since 1887, when it ranked among the largest observatories in the world.

About Goodsell Observatory

Built in 1887, Goodsell Observatory was, at the time of construction, the largest observatory in Minnesota, the sixth largest in the United States, and the twelfth largest in the world. It succeeded a smaller observatory that had opened on the same campus in 1878.

History

For decades, Goodsell Observatory served as a widely consulted timekeeping station, bringing national prominence to Carleton College through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its founder, William W. Payne, also founded the journal Popular Astronomy. In recognition of its architectural, scientific, and historical significance, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Telescopes & research

Two historic telescopes remain in use for Carleton's astronomy classes and for monthly public open houses. The observatory also houses a computer imaging lab for astronomy students, an astronomy library, and a historic five-inch meridian circle among other vintage scientific instruments dating from the 1800s and early 1900s.

Location & getting there

Goodsell Observatory stands on the Carleton College campus in Northfield, Minnesota, in the American Midwest.

Visiting Goodsell Observatory

The observatory holds monthly open house events that allow the public to observe through its historic telescopes; check Carleton College's astronomy department for the current schedule before visiting.

See your named star from here

More than a century after it was built to track the timekeeping needs of a college town, Goodsell Observatory's telescopes could just as easily be aimed at the coordinates of a star named through Star Register. Name a star or browse the catalogue.