Hartung–Boothroyd Observatory
The Hartung–Boothroyd Observatory (HBO) is located atop Mount Pleasant near the Cornell University in Ithaca, New York (US). It is used mainly as a teaching facility for upper-level undergraduate astronomy classes. The observatory is named to recognize funding from M. John Hartung, a 1908 Cornell graduate and later chemical industrialist, and to honor Samuel L. Boothroyd, the founder of Cornell's Department of Astronomy. The facility was designed and directed from 1974-2012 by James R. Houck.
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| Organization | Cornell University | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Observatory code | H81 | ||
| Location | 553 Mount Pleasant Rd Dryden, New York (United States) | ||
| Coordinates | 42°27′29.61″N 76°23′4.59″W | ||
| Altitude | 530 m | ||
| Established | 1974 | ||
| Website | hbo.sirtf.com | ||
| Telescopes | |||
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  Location of Hartung–Boothroyd Observatory | |||
The primary 0.6m mirror was constructed from a Pyrex 1/8-scale test pouring as part of technology development for the Palomar Observatory 200-inch telescope. The mirror was polished and mounted in a lightweight tube in the late 1930s under Boothroyd's direction, but World War II deferred its planned use in a high-altitude observatory. This facility, together with an equatorial fork mount to hold the previously completed telescope, was completed in 1974.