The Goethe Link Observatories of Indiana University comprise our complement of off-campus (but nevertheless local) research and teaching telescopes of the Astronomy Department.  There are two sites.  The original Goethe Link Observatory near Indianapolis is home to a 0.91-m reflector and a 10-inch astrograph.  The Morgan-Monroe Station of the Goethe Link Observatories  (MMS) is located in the Morgan-Monroe State Forest about 16 miles north of campus.  The MMS houses a 0.41-m reflector and a 1.25-meter reflector, both of which are automated for long-term monitoring of time-variable sources.

Brooklyn Site of the Goethe Link Observatories

The 0.91-meter telescope of Indiana University is located at the original Goethe Link Observatory on a high bluff near Brooklyn Indiana, about 20 miles southwest of Indianapolis.  The telescope was completed 1939 as the private observatory of Dr. Goethe Link, a noted Indianapolis surgeon and amateur astronomer.  The primary mirror is a Corning honeycomb test pouring for the 200-inch telescope.  The original optical configuration was Newtonian.  The observatory complex includes kitchen, sleeping quarters, and a 150-seat auditorium.  There is also a 10-inch astrographic camera with a roll-off roof on the grounds.

The observatory was donated to Indiana University in 1948 and was used regularly for research until the mid-1980's, by which time the night sky brightness from the Indianapolis suburbs had substantially restricted the breadth of research possible from the site.  In 1964 the Newtonian optics were converted to an f/10 Cassegrain system.  To avoid perforating the honeycomb primary mirror the focus is diverted to any one of three Nasmyth foci by a folding flat above the primary mirror.  This has the advantage of allowing several instruments to remain simultaneously mounted on the telescope.  Instruments used there during the 1950-80's include a photographic camera, photoelectric photometer, scanning spectrometer, and slit spectrograph.  Topics studied include galactic clusters, cool star spectrophotometry, and spectroscopy of interacting binary stars.  The 10-inch astrograph was used during the 1950-60's to recover asteroids whose orbits had been "lost" during the interruption of regular astronomical observations that occurred worldwide during World War II.  These observations also led to the discovery of many new minor planets, and over a hundred new Link asteroids have been named as a result.

The observatory is now operated jointly by Indiana University and the Indiana Astronomical Society, an amateur astronomy group based in central Indiana to which Dr. Link belonged.  Additional historical information on the Goethe Link Observatory can be found in an article by Victor Maier which appeared in the May 1940 issue of Popular Astronomy magazine, an article by Frank Edmondson which appeared in the December 1948 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine, and an article by Kent Honeycutt which appeared in the December 1978 issue of Sky.

Located at : 8403 Observatory Road, Martinsville, IN  46151

For information on events contact Jeff Patterson at the Indiana Astronomical Society  or via email KB9SRB [at] hotmail.com