The Dyer Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Vanderbilt University. Built in 1953, it is located in Brentwood, Tennessee, and is the only university facility not located on the main campus in Nashville. The observatory is named after Arthur J. Dyer, who paid for the observatory's -wide dome, and houses a reflecting telescope named for astronomer Carl Seyfert. Today, the observatory primarily serves as a teaching tool; its mission is to interest children in the fields of science and engineering. [1]

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History

Vanderbilt's first observatory was housed on the campus itself. It was equipped with a refracting telescope and was the site of E. E. Barnard's earliest astronomical work. Barnard would eventually discover 16 comets and the fifth moon of Jupiter, receive the only honorary degree Vanderbilt has ever awarded, and have the on-campus observatory named in his honor. ^[2] However, that on-campus observatory would eventually prove insufficient for the university's needs. ^[3]

When Seyfert joined the university's faculty in 1946, he lobbied for increasing the astronomy department's modest course offerings and for a new observatory. He solicited donations from over 80 Nashville businesses to outfit the new observatory and convinced Dyer, owner of Nashville Bridge Company, to donate the funds for and to install the observatory's dome. When the observatory opened in December 1953, Seyfert was named its director, and, after his death, the telescope was named in his honor. ^[4]

See also

• List of observatories

References

1. Dyer Observatory Home
2. Astronomer Barnard was among Vanderbilt's first academic superstars
3. Carl Keenan Seyfert (1911-1960)
4. Dyer History