EQUIPMENT

A telescope gathers light, so the larger the diameter of a telescope, the brighter the image. This also means that larger apertures can show you dimmer things, which usually also are further away. Telescopes get their magnifying power from their length, so the longer the telescope the more it magnifies the image. Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus reflector telescopes are larger in diameter and shorter than our refractor telescopes. Each instrument has its own “best” type of celestial target.

FACILITIES

28’ Ash-Dome Observatory and Classroom: The first observatory on campus, this facility offers public access to the skies, day or night. It also houses the 15” refractor.
Roll-Off Observatory: It is home to our largest telescope on campus, a 30” Obsession reflector.
Conley Observatory has a remotely accessible AP160 refractor and other deep space telescopes.
Starfield for visitor and volunteer setups.
Australian Star Chairs with large binoculars. The large binoculars offer the best views of larger and brighter celestial objects such as star clusters like the Pleiades, the Double Cluster and the Hyades as well as the Andromeda Galaxy and Orion Nebula.

INSTRUMENTS

15" F12 D&G achromat: Our primary public star party telescope. It specializes in amazing views of globular star clusters, planets, and double stars. It provides “you are there” views of the moon.
30", 20", and 18" Obsessions Classics: The 30” Obsession is a true Galaxy-killer, showing you amazing views of spiral galaxies. The smaller, but still large, Obsessions likewise give wonderful views of galaxies and nebulae.
Coronado H-alpha solar telescopes: Provide safe and detailed views of the sun, from chromospheric “surface” detail to sunspots, prominences, solar flares and filaments.
Daystar and Baader solar filters: When the sun is very active or we have visitors during daylight hours, we add these specialized filters to ordinary telescopes to provide safe solar viewing.