Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Research observatory in Saanich, Canada.
The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory is a research facility in Saanich housing two principal optical telescopes for astronomical study. The main cylindrical dome sits on elevated terrain and contains instruments designed to capture and analyze starlight from distant objects.
John S. Plaskett proposed the observatory in 1910 with backing from the International Union for Cooperation in Solar Research, and the Canadian government completed it in 1918 to designs by Dominion architect Edgar Lewis Horwood. Its 72-inch Plaskett telescope saw first light on 6 May 1918, six months after the 100-inch Hooker telescope at Mount Wilson, so it was never the world's largest. Plaskett headed the facility until 1935, and it remained a leading astrophysical research centre until the 1960s.
Public star parties have been held here since the observatory's founding in 1918, interrupted only by World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada's Victoria Centre helps run them, with solar and night viewing through its telescopes and the observatory's. The Centre of the Universe, across the parking lot, displays the original 1914 mirror and a 1:10 scale model of the dome built in 1915.
Visitors should inquire about access and viewing times at the site since it remains an active research facility with ongoing work. The location on elevated terrain provides natural vantage points for understanding the instruments and their surroundings.
The 73-inch glass disc for the Plaskett telescope was cast at Saint-Gobain's Charleroi works in Antwerp and shipped just a week before World War I began. It was ground in Pittsburgh, had to be reground twice, and reached Victoria by train before being hauled up Little Saanich Mountain by horse and wagon.
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