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(Originally written in the late 90's)

Sommers-Bausch Observatory (SBO) on the Ãå±±½ûµØ campus is operated by the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences  (APS) to provide observational experience for CU undergraduate students, and hands-on training in astronomical observations and instrumentation for departmental majors and graduate students. 

Origins

General Astronomy classes were instituted in the very early years ofthe University, but not until 1946 did the University possess a significant telescope. In that year the Bausch & Lomb Company gave to the University a 10.5-inch refractor, formerly the property of Carl L. Bausch. The telescope was designed by George Saegmuller, a B&L designer, in 1912. The telescope had stood on the top of a B&L building in Rochester, New York, until about 1941.

Housing for the telescope became possible when in 1949 the University of Colorado received a bequest of $49,054 from the estate of Mrs. Mayme Sommers in memory of her husband Elmer E. Sommers. These funds were to be used to construct an observatory building. The Sommers-Bausch Observatory was built in adapted rural Italian style to match most of the buildings on campus. The new building was dedicated on August 27, 1953, during the 89th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

High Alititude Observatory

The Observatory was operated under the directorship of Dr. Walter Orr Roberts, jointly owned by the University of Colorado and the High Altitude Observatory of Harvard University, which already had an observing station in Climax, Colorado, and offices on the CU campus. The Observatory was used by CU classes and for public night viewing. In addition it was used for part of the HAO offices until the adjacent building was constructed for HAO in 1960. Sunspot observations were made in conjunction with the HAO station in Climax, and the room under the dome was used for radio communication with Climax and with the observatory at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico.

Teaching and research in astronomy greatly developed in the 1960's, under the acting directorships of various faculty members of the Department of Astro-Geophysics (since named the Department of Astrophysical, Planetary, and Atmospheric Sciences, and now called the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, or APS), including Dr. Roy Garstang, long-time proponent and supporter of observational astronony at CU. As the General Astronomy classes steadily increased in size, there was also a feeling that additional facilities were needed to provide training for graduate students before they went to a larger observatory for observing runs.

Acquisitions and Growth

In 1971 the University received a $164,000 grant from the Science Development Program of the National Science Foundation to purchase a new telescope. Originally it had been intended to acquire the telescope from the Ealing Corporation. Eventually it was decided to purchase a 24-inch cassegrain-coude reflector from the Boller & Chivens Company (a division of Perkin-Elmer Corporation) at a cost of $132,000. Auxiliary equipment and building modifications brought the total cost to approximately $205,000. The telescope was installed in 1973 in the original SBO dome.

The 10.5-inch Bausch telescope was removed and dismantled, the mounting being placed in the lobby of the newly-constructed Fiske Planetarium as an exhibit. The objective glass was used to construct a solar telescope which was installed on the roof of the Duane Physics Building under the direction of Dr. Don Billings, a member of the original HAO solar observing group. The heliostat was purchased from Carson Astronomical Instruments for $39,600, of which $27,000 was for the heliostat itself and the remainder for auxiliary equipment.

Dr. Bruce Bohannan became Observatory Director in 1974, and in 1979 secured a grant of $360,000 from the Max C. Fleischmann Foundation to construct a 4,000 square foot addition to the building. Ground breaking took place on January 24, 1980, and construction was completed in 1981. The addition provided four darkrooms (the original darkroom being converted into a reading room), a laboratory, several offices, a workshop, and a large open observing deck. The solar telescope was moved back from the Duane Physics Building and re-erected in the new addition.

In 1980 the Foundation made an additional grant of $135,000 for the purchase of an 18-inch cassegrain reflector from DFM Engi