The Stephens Observatory is located atop the Carnegie Science Building at Bates College

Bates College

Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...

 in Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston, Maine

Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...

. It houses a 12 in (30.5 cm) Newtonian reflecting telescope

Reflecting telescope

A reflecting telescope is an optical telescope which uses a single or combination of curved mirrors that reflect light and form an image. The reflecting telescope was invented in the 17th century as an alternative to the refracting telescope which, at that time, was a design that suffered from...

, built by Roscoe G. Stephens of Kennebunk, Maine

Kennebunk, Maine

Kennebunk is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,075 people at the 2000 census. Including Kennebunkport , the population totals 14,196 people...

, and donated to the College in 1929. It is used mainly as a teaching facility for upper-level astronomy

Astronomy

Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...

 classes. The observatory has a modern tracking system and electronic drive mechanism.

History

Bates' observatory was initially going to be built on top of nearby Mount David in Lewiston. In the 1860s, Bates Catalogues first mentioned plans to build an observatory on the outcropping. The land encompassing Mount David was given by Senator William Frye in the 1860s to be used specially for an observatory. Bates Student articles from the 1870s–1910s and Catalogues continuously refer to plans to build an observatory at Bates. Many of these articles featured pictures of the future observatory. Due to financial constraints, it was not until 1929 that the Stephens Observatory was actually completed on Carnegie Science Building. Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...

donated the initial funds for the building.

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