Morrison Observatory

Morrison Observatory is a working astronomical observatory in Fayette, Missouri, owned and operated by Central Methodist University since the 1920s. Its Clark refractor dome has watched the same Missouri sky for well over a century.

About Morrison Observatory

The observatory was named after Bernice Morrison, who in 1874 pledged $100,000 toward its construction, half for the telescope and dome and half for a permanent trust fund. It opened in 1875 at Pritchett College in Glasgow, Missouri, and has been an active research and teaching site ever since.

History

A 12.25-inch Clark refractor, housed in a dome modeled on Harvard College Observatory, was the observatory's original centerpiece. A 6-inch meridian telescope built by Troughton & Simms of London followed in 1876, and the observatory sold precise time signals to the Chicago & Alton Railroad and to time balls in St. Louis and Kansas City. When Pritchett School Institute closed in 1922, Central Methodist College took over the observatory in 1926 to preserve it. In 1935 the whole facility was relocated about 10 minutes' walk from the Fayette campus, and Harvard astronomer Harlow Shapley delivered the dedication address on June 1, 1936.

Telescopes & research

In 1961 the Central Missouri Amateur Astronomers donated a 12-inch reflecting telescope, housed in a separate roll-off building near the original Clark refractor. That instrument was later replaced with a 10-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, and in 2024 the university upgraded it with a new mount, CCD camera, and a full set of photometric filters, keeping the observatory active in photometric research of stars.

Location & getting there

Morrison Observatory sits on a ridge just outside Central Methodist University's campus in Fayette, Missouri, in the North America region of the United States.

Visiting Morrison Observatory

The observatory hosts free guided public viewing sessions on select Thursday evenings between 7 and 9pm. Confirm current dates with Central Methodist University before you go, since sessions depend on weather and the academic calendar.

See your named star from here

A named star from Star Register comes with exact right ascension and declination, the same kind of coordinates Morrison Observatory's telescopes are pointed at every clear night. Name a star and look it up afterward in the catalogue before asking observatory staff to help you find it.