Astronomy has been an integral part of Carleton since the First Observatory was built in 1877. Goodsell Observatory (built in 1887) houses the College’s two refracting telescopes and the Transit Telescope (pictured below) which Carleton used to set the time across the nation for places west of the Mississippi. Carleton astronomer Charlotte Willard is shown telegraphing the time from Goodsell. (For more information on Goodsell Observatory’s time service, see the display in the basement of Anderson Hall.)
Astronomical observing has always been popular on campus. In the display you can see an elaborate constellation finder printed in 1906 and a photograph of students from the early 1950’s using a “portable telescope” outside of Goodsell.
Carleton’s early astronomers were some of the first to use the new photographic techniques to capture stunning images of the night sky. An original glass plate of the Andromeda Galaxy, known at the time as the Great Nebula of Andromeda, is shown in the display lightbox. The image was captured over four nights on October 4, 5, 6 and 7, 1899 for a total exposure time of 12 hours. Current telescopes and cameras can capture a comparable full-color digital image of the Andromeda Galaxy in only 12 minutes!