Wise Observatory
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| Organization | Tel Aviv University | ||||||
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| Code | 097 | ||||||
| Location | On the edge of Makhtesh Ramon, near Mizpe Ramon , Israel | ||||||
| Coordinates | 30°35′45″N 34°45′48″E / 30.59583°N 34.76333°E | ||||||
| Altitude | 875m | ||||||
| Established | 1971 | ||||||
| Website | Wise Observatory | ||||||
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| One Meter | 100cm Ritchey–Chrétien |
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| C18 46cm | 46cm Centurion Prime-Focus Reflector |
| WHAT | 10cm Wise Hungarian Automated Telescope |
Coordinates: 30°35′50.19″N 34°45′44.13″E / 30.5972750°N 34.7622583°E The Florence and George Wise Observatory (IAU code 097) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by Tel Aviv University. It is located 5 km west of the city of Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev desert near the edge of the Ramon Crater, and it is the only professional astronomical observatory in Israel.
Founded in October 1971 as a collaboration between Tel Aviv University and the Smithsonian Institution, and named after the late Dr. George S. Wise, the first President of the Tel-Aviv University. The observatory is a research laboratory of Tel-Aviv University. It belongs to the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences and it serves mainly staff and graduate students from the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the School of Physics and Astronomy, and from the Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences. Traditionally, the Wise Observatory Director is appointed by Tel-Aviv University's Dean of Exact Sciences from the senior academic staff of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
The directors of the Wise Observatory since its foundation were:
The number of clear nights (zero cloudiness) at the Wise Observatory site is about 170 a year. The number of useful nights, with part of the night cloud-free, is about 240. The best season, when practically no clouds are observed, is June to August, while the highest chance for clouds are in the period January to April. Winds are usually moderate mainly from North-East and North. Storm wind velocities (greater than 40 km/h) occur, but rarely. The wind speed tends to decrease during the night. Temperature gradients are small and fairly moderate. The average relative humidity is quite high with a tendency to decline during the night from April to August.
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