Welcome to the Burke-Gaffney Observatory
The Burke-Gaffney Observatory is featured in the Saint Mary's University 2022 Report to the Community, find it here!
Recently, the Burke-Gaffney Observatory passed its 50th anniversary! In late January 1972, the Burke-Gaffney Observatory was officially opened. Given current COVID restrictions we plan to celebrate this milestone publicly later in the year - stay tuned!
Coincident with this anniversary, a significant capital investment was made to the observatory's equipment - a new mount (see the image below) - the Planewave L600 - replaced the 50-year-old Ealing mount in December 2021 and was fully commissioned by early January 2022. The new mount will significantly improve the overall performance of the observatory. This is because:
- its slew speed is about 40 times faster than the old mount
- its sky pointing accuracy is much better, and
- it tracks the sky much better allowing for longer exposures and better quality images
We have other news to share:
- David Lane retired from SMU at the end of 2021 after being the observatory's technician for 29 years and its director for about half of that time.
- We have a new Observatory Director: Dr. Vincent Henault-Brunet
- We have welcomed a new Observatory Technician: Tiffany Fields