Givatayim Observatory

The observatory was founded in 1968 by the City of Givatayim Givatayim, (Israel ) and founded the Israeli Astronomical Society (Israeli Astronomical Association, ILO).

Tasks of the Observatory Givatayim

  • Public lectures and observations ( on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 20:00, during the winter months only on Thursdays ).
  • Astronomy courses for children and adults.
  • Seminars for teachers.
  • Care of school projects.
  • Research activities (eg minor planets, variable stars, extrasolar planets).
  • Astrophotography

The observatory is located in Givatayim middle of a public park ( 2nd Aliya Park ) on a hill ( 87m above sea level), at the intersection of roads Golomb and Beer Reshit. Givatayim is a city on the eastern outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Instruments

  • Meade LX200 16-inch f/10 Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope
  • Meade LX200 12 -inch f/10 Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope
  • Meade 16-inch Starfinder Newtonian telescope
  • Celestron 8 -inch f/10 Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope
  • Supervised 6 -inch Coude refractor
  • Meade ETX 90mm f/13.8 Maksutov - Cassegrain telescope
  • Coronado 40mm PST (Personal Solar Telescope, H -alpha telescope)
  • CCDs: Meade Deep Sky Imager ( DSI), Meade Pictor 1616XT.

The main instrument ( LX200 16-inch Schmidt- Cassegrain telescope ) is located in the dome and is intended solely for astrophotography and for research purposes. The other instruments are operated on the observer terrace.

More

The sky in Givatayim or in the Tel Aviv area is heavily light polluted. The situation has seriously deteriorated since these buildings are illuminated at night by strong floodlights and up sticking the flood light cone in the sky in recent years due to the construction of many skyscrapers ( Azrieli Center, City Gate, the new public administration building, etc.). The same is true for numerous large-scale billboards, with floodlight also reaches into the sky.

Since 1984, Dr. Igal Patel is director of the observatory and chairman of the Israeli Astronomical Society. Organizational director of the observatory is Shony Lotan. The observatory has about 20 part-time employees.

The Minor Planet Center observatory code is 137

Asteroid Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope
749043
de