Excellence Program visit at Wise Observatory

On Thursday May 8'th the faculty's Excellence Program visited the largest observatory in Israel, the "Wise Observatory," located on the edge of the Ramon Crater.

At the observatory, the students met Sami Ben Gigi, the observatory's technical director, who guided them and showed them the facilities and equipment at the observatory, including the main 1-meter telescope. Sami explained to the group about the stages of work, the care of the optical components, and the scientific measurements that take place. The observatory is affiliated with Tel Aviv University and observations are conducted there by researchers from all over the world.

We've already come a long way, so of course we'll spread out a mat, pick up a coffee mug, and use the faculty's portable telescope to look at the stars. We were able to see astrophysical objects in our solar system and the Galaxy. Though the moon interfered a bit with visibility it did not with the atmosphere.

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