Screen by the telescope in the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium

Description:	An image from the telescope appears on the screen in the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium and a small portion of the dome is visible above the screen. Construction of the Indiana limestone building took approximately 18 months and fill dirt from the Ross Hall construction site (building opened September 12, 1954) was moved to this location, a high plot of land at the entrance to Holcomb Gardens. Dedicated on Friday, November 5, 1954, the structure was designed and planned by Arthur F. Lindberg, Butler University Superintendent of Buildings and Grounds; J. I. Holcomb, Vice President of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee; Dr. Harry E. Crull, Professor of Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics; Robert Frost Daggett, consulting architect; and the firm of Ammerman, Davis and Stout, consulting engineers. Reports vary, but the estimated cost of the building and the telescope was between $325,000 and $350,000, and J. I. and Musetta Holcomb provided the funding for the project. The building includes a central tower topped with a dome housing a 38-inch Cassegrainian reflector telescope manufactured by J. W. Fecker, Inc., a planetarium in the west wing, and a lecture room in the east wing. Monetary gifts from Dr. Frank Levinson (Class of 1975), through the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, helped fund a refurbishment of the telescope, which occurred from 2015 to 2019. According to The Telescopes page on the Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium website, One of the primary items that have been addressed are the optics of the telescope. The primary mirror has had an astigmatism removed, a new 13-inch secondary mirror was fabricated and installed, and a corrector lens/focal reducer has been installed thus reducing the telescopes focal ratio from a f/16 to an f/6.1. This reduction of focal ratio makes the telescope a much faster camera and increase[s] the field of view of the telescope seven fold. The dome now has failsafe mechanisms allowing it and the telescope to be used remotely (Butler University, 2023). This work was completed by Astronomical Consultants and Equipment.
Source:	http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/2856
Collection:	Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Geography:	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 39.841474, -86.171414 39.841474 -86.171414
Subjects:	Screens Paneling Observatories Planetariums Observatory domes Butler University--Buildings College buildings Butler University--History Indianapolis (Ind.)--History James Irving Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium Holcomb Observatory Fairview campus

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