Facilities
Our base of operations is the West Lafayette Observatory (WLO) at 600 Cumberland Avenue. The observatory is owned by the West Lafayette School Corporation and is utilized by the Purdue University Physics and Astronomy Department for teaching and research, and by WVAS for meetings and community astronomy activities. It has a 20-seat classroom and houses a computerized 16” diameter Meade LX200-ACF Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, an 8" SkyLine Newtonian reflector, an 8” Orion Deep Space Explorer Newtonian reflector, a 60mm Lunt LS60THa/B600/C hydrogen-alpha solar telescope, and an 8” binocular telescope which was built by WVAS members.
Exact Location: 86° 54.39’W, 40° 27.68’N, 216m.
Prairie Grass Observatory (PGO) is another one of our dark sites. It is located on the grounds of Camp Cullom, a youth camp near Frankfort, IN. Its rural, dark-sky location affords far better viewing of astronomical objects than is possible in the city.
The observatory is home to several telescopes including a 28-inch diameter reflector on a Dobsonian mount, a 7-inch diameter APO refractor, a 16-inch diameter Schmidt-Cassegrain, and a pair of giant 25-40 × 100 binoculars.
Owned and administered by the Clinton County Foundation for Youth (a United Way agency), Prairie Grass Observatory receives technical support and man-power from the Wabash Valley Astronomical Society.