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Wise Observatory
30°35′50.6″N 34°45′43.9″E / 30.597389°N 34.762194°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 kilometers (3.1 miles) west of the town of Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev desert near the edge of the Ramon Crater, and it is the only professional astronomical observatory in Israel.
The observatory was 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 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour)) 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.
The average seeing is about 2-3 seconds of arc. A few good nights have seeing of 1" or less, while few show seeing larger than 5".
An important advantage of the Wise Observatory at its location of ~35°E in the Northern Hemisphere is the possibility of cooperating with observatories at other longitudes for time-series studies. Such projects involve searches for stellar oscillations within the Whole Earth Telescope project, monitoring gravitational microlensing events, combined ground and space observing campaigns, etc.
A project to monitor photometrically and spectroscopically Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) is still running, following about 30 years of data collection. Other major projects include searches for supernovae and extrasolar planets (transiting or lensing), and investigations of star formation processes in galaxies through wide and narrow-band filter imaging. Lately, some emphasis is put on studies of Near Earth Objects (NEOs), with the research focus being the rotational properties of NEOs and of other asteroids through the investigation of their light curves.
As of 2016, the Wise Observatory is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 17 numbered minor planets during 1999–2007. Moreover, another 8 minor planets were discovered at the Wise Observatory, but are now credited to the individual astronomers such as David Polishook (see adjunct table and footnotes).
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Wise Observatory
30°35′50.6″N 34°45′43.9″E / 30.597389°N 34.762194°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 kilometers (3.1 miles) west of the town of Mitzpe Ramon in the Negev desert near the edge of the Ramon Crater, and it is the only professional astronomical observatory in Israel.
The observatory was 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 kilometers per hour (25 miles per hour)) 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.
The average seeing is about 2-3 seconds of arc. A few good nights have seeing of 1" or less, while few show seeing larger than 5".
An important advantage of the Wise Observatory at its location of ~35°E in the Northern Hemisphere is the possibility of cooperating with observatories at other longitudes for time-series studies. Such projects involve searches for stellar oscillations within the Whole Earth Telescope project, monitoring gravitational microlensing events, combined ground and space observing campaigns, etc.
A project to monitor photometrically and spectroscopically Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) is still running, following about 30 years of data collection. Other major projects include searches for supernovae and extrasolar planets (transiting or lensing), and investigations of star formation processes in galaxies through wide and narrow-band filter imaging. Lately, some emphasis is put on studies of Near Earth Objects (NEOs), with the research focus being the rotational properties of NEOs and of other asteroids through the investigation of their light curves.
As of 2016, the Wise Observatory is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 17 numbered minor planets during 1999–2007. Moreover, another 8 minor planets were discovered at the Wise Observatory, but are now credited to the individual astronomers such as David Polishook (see adjunct table and footnotes).