Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory

Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory once stood in the Kenwood section of Chicago, a private observatory built in 1890 that would go on to shape the course of American astrophysics.

About Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory

The observatory was built by William E. Hale at the family home for his son, George Ellery Hale, who would become one of the most influential astronomers of his era. Its principal instrument was a twelve-inch refractor telescope, paired with a Rowland grating as part of a spectroheliograph — an instrument for photographing the sun in a single wavelength of light.

History

It was at Kenwood that Hale first put his spectroheliograph, which he had invented while at MIT, to practical scientific use, and it was here that he founded the Astrophysical Journal, a publication still central to the field today. Hale hired Ferdinand Ellerman as his assistant from 1892, and together they recorded over 3,000 spectroheliograms of the sun. As Hale's reputation grew, the University of Chicago hired him as a professor of astronomy, and advanced students began using the Kenwood instruments. When Yerkes Observatory was established in 1897, Kenwood's equipment, including the twelve-inch refractor, was donated to the university and relocated to Yerkes' north dome in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

Location & getting there

Kenwood Astrophysical Observatory was located in the Kenwood neighbourhood on Chicago's South Side; its instruments have long since moved on to Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin.

See your named star from here

Kenwood's story is a reminder of how much can be discovered with a well-placed telescope and a curious eye. Name a star in that same spirit, and look up its coordinates in our catalogue.