Member Astronomical League and International Dark-Sky Association
The Society's Eagle Eye Observatory is located at a dark-sky site to which we have access through a contractual arrangement with the Canyon of the Eagles Lodge & Nature Reserve, which is located on the upper area of Lake Buchanan about 15 miles north-northwest of Burnet.
The Eagle Eye Observatory houses the 16-inch Ealing Educator Telescope, a research-grade Cassegrain which was donated to the Society, along with a 4-inch solar coronagraph. Both instruments have been refurbished by Society members. Also housed in the observatory is the Society's original 12.5-inch Harlan Smith Telescope, a Newtonian originally constructed in the early 70's and recently refurbished for the second time in its history with the Society.
The Ealing Educator Telescope as it is currently mounted in the Eagle Eye Observatory.
The Harlan Smith Telescope (with wooden tube) and the Ealing Telescope in the
background.
The observatory is a sliding-roof design, with two independently movable roof sections. (See photo.) This design allows a great deal of flexibility to accommodate a variety of public and private activities. Each roof section may be moved to create a variable-size side-viewing slit, or both sections may be moved to create a variable-size central-viewing slit, or both sections may be moved to open the entire structure to the sky.
The elevation of the Eagle Eye Observatory is about 1,100 feet or 335
meters above sea level, and its geographical coordinates are:
30° 53' 27.6" or 30° 53.46' or 30.8910 north latitude
98° 25' 34.4" or 98° 25.59' or 98.4265 west longitude
Driving directions and maps, along with other information, are available on our Canyon of the Eagles page.
Observatory training sessions are held from time to time for Society members. The training session outline is available currently in two formats: HTML or MS Word (both updated May, 2003).
Top of PageIn addition to the facilities and equipment described above, the Austin Astronomical Society owns and maintains several 6-inch and 8-inch reflector telescopes, as well as a number of eyepieces.
Currently, observatory facilities and equipment are available for use by members on monthly star party nights only. In the future guidelines will be set in place to permit access to these facilities on a reservation basis. Society membership is open to all interested persons.
