Salvia Observatory

Salvia Observatory is a private amateur astronomical facility in Saulges, in the Mayenne department of France, built around a serious amateur telescope setup used in real astronomical research.

About Salvia Observatory

Founded in 2008, Salvia sits at an elevation of about 97 metres and is a member of the Club Eclipse Paris astronomy association. Its main instrument is a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with a 0.356-metre (14-inch) aperture on a CGE mount with computer-driven GoTo tracking, paired with a choice of focal lengths - 3.91 m, 2.24 m, and 1.37 m - using two focal reducers, and an Atik 460 monochrome CCD camera for imaging.

Telescopes & research

Salvia's site conditions are notably good for an amateur facility, with seeing typically between 1.5 and 2 arcseconds and sky-brightness readings (SQM) of around 21.4 to 21.9 magnitudes per square arcsecond - dark enough that the observatory has contributed data to peer-reviewed astronomical research.

Location & getting there

The observatory is located in Saulges, a village in the Mayenne department of northwestern France, at roughly 97 metres above sea level.

Visiting Salvia Observatory

As a private amateur observatory, Salvia isn't a general public visitor site. Enquiries about visits or collaboration are best directed through Club Eclipse Paris.

See your named star from here

With good seeing and genuinely dark skies, the conditions around Salvia Observatory are close to ideal for finding a faint target. If you've named a star, its coordinates are in our catalogue - a fitting match for a site built for precise, serious observing.