About the PAS

Welcome to the Peoria Astronomical Society! We are looking forward to getting to know you.

Our members' meeting is on the first Wednesday of each month. We meet at the Lakeview Planetarium, at Lakeview Museum. In September of each year, we hold our annual banquet. The members' meeting is a great place to meet the othermembers, swap stories, and learn alittle more about astronomy.

The members meeting is free and open to the public.

We welcome your help and involvement at any time. We continually have several on-going projects which include community involvement, special interest groups, and the general promotion of astronomy to the public. Any suggestions you may have are always needed.

Our board meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at Hardee's,Willow Knolls Shopping Center, 7:30 pm and is open to all members.

Northmoor Observatory

Need a Map?

Northmoor Observatory which houses the 9 inch refractor located within the city at the Leo Donovan Golf Course.

The refractor was one of two built in 1913 for the Illinois Watch Company of Springfield Illinois, the 9-inch "flint-forward" lens was ground by Pettididier, the same optician who ground lenses for Dr. A.A. Michelson's famous experiment to determine the speed of light. The telescope was manufactured by Gaertner Scientific of Chicago, Illinois. The telescope was purchased by Bradley University and later "re-discovered" sitting under bleachers in Huff Gym on the Bradley campus It was reassembled at the Northmoor site in 1955, where it still provides excellent views of double stars, the planets and our moon.

The other telescope, a transit telescope, was used for keeping precise time-keeping (before atomic clocks), The Illinois Watch Company broadcast continuous time signals via radio, except when they were ordered to stop, during World War I, as it was thought the broadcasts could aid the enemy, the whereabouts of the transit telescope are unknown, if you have any information concerning the sister telescope, please contact us.

The Northmoor Observatory was the first in Illinois to offer public viewing, and we continue to provide this service to the community without charge.

The Observatory is open to the public every "clear" Saturday night from May through the end of October. You will find "volunteers" on hand to aid you in your discovery of the cosmos, from sunset until midnight.

The Observatory and telescope are maintained by the PAS and by the generous donations of members of the Peoria community.

Primary Activities:

• Public Viewing Night
• Planetary and Lunar Viewing
• Double Star and Occultations
• Solar Observations

Excerpts from the 1964 Starlite, all costs are in 1953 dollars

Since 1952 the Astronomy Section of the Peoria Academy of Science had eagerly eyed the 9" telescope owned by Bradley University. Bradley had purchased this instrument from the Illinois Watch Company of Springfield, Ill in 1935. Because no one had an opportunity to build an observatory to house her, the scope gathered dust on the Bradley campus for seventeen years.

Under the sponsorship of the Academy of Science, however, a trio consisting of Van Zandt, Sharav, and Rosen started an observatory project. Mr. C.G.A. Rosen undertook the fund-raising project which made the building of our observatory possible. He had exceptional success with Mr. Murray M. Baker who donated a good portion of the necessary funds.

In order to acquire the use of the telescope, we agreed to give Bradley astronomy students the right to view through it. At the April 23, 1953, meeting of the Peoria Park Board, Mr. Perardi, a charter member of the astronomy section, recommended two possible observatory sites on the North Moor Golf Course. The site which was selected lies between the 13th tee, 15th fairway, and the lake. It was on June 24, 1953, that the Park Board approved the entire transaction.

Now let's take a look at the telescope that we had acquired. She was constructed in 1909, for use in the observatory at the Illinois Watch Co. Her nine inch lens-she's a refractor you know--was fashioned by the Gaertner Scientific Company by the same optician who ground the lenses for the famous physicist A.A. Michelson. Her 148" focal length can be effectively used up to 450 power, although good "seeing conditions" will permit higher magnification. She's a bit overweight, her body and counterweights tipping the scales at 500 pounds, but then we do like her that way!

After the Park Board approved the transaction for the site of our observatory, the scope-less sky-scanners ( the Astronomy Section members) were ready to move. With the completion of the plans on June 24, 1953, groundbreaking at North Moor Golf Course took place the following autumn.

The scope's two-piece circular outfit consisted of a durable lower portion made of concrete blocks and an impressive top-piece of welded steel. The circular housing cost $8,000; its crown was erected at a cost of $3,500. The combined building cost was $11,500. Because of membership cooperation as well as that of various business firms, we eluded a building estimate of $50,000.-- the 1964 cost of total replacement. In addition to the building value, the replacement value of the refractor is $15,000 (1964 dollars) -- thus making the cost of replacement or duplication $65,000 (1964 dollars).

Due to the efforts of a group of Caterpillar specialists the new observatory was well equipped. Mr. Van Zandt undertook the construction of a drive to rotate the dome. Dr. Ernest Landen devised the clock drive that powered the telescope. The scope's drive was synchronized with the pendulum mechanism he built in the lecture room which was completed in November, 1956, at a cost of $5,500. The clocks in the lecture room were synchronized with the pendulum and the National Bureau of Standards-Time Station WWV in Washington, D.C.

The observatory was dedicated on July 23, 1955, after a luncheon at the Original Murphy's. Unfortunately, the scope's maiden voyage to the stars was postponed that evening because of rain. A week later, however, her public open house took place.

The Elgin Watch Company, The University of Illinois, and Northwestern Univ. had each erected an observatory before ours was dedicated, but the North Moor Observatory was the first in state to be open to the general public.