Drake Municipal Observatory
View from the South West | |||
| Alternative names | Drake Observatory | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Organization | Drake University | ||
| Location | 4898 Observatory Road, Des Moines, Iowa, 50311, US | ||
| Coordinates | 41°35′43.86″N 93°41′16.22″W / 41.5955167°N 93.6878389°W | ||
| Altitude | 846 ft | ||
| Weather | See the Clear Sky Forecast | ||
| Established | 1921 | ||
| Website | |||
| Telescopes | |||
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The Drake Municipal Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Des Moines, Iowa. It is jointly operated by Drake University and the city of Des Moines, and is located within the Waveland Golf Course between the 17th green and the 18th tee (the highest point in Des Moines at the time of construction). The observatory presents public programs on Friday nights throughout the spring through autumn months and, weather permitting, attendees can observe celestial objects with a variety of telescopes.
The main dome of the observatory houses an 8.25 inch refracting telescope, on a German equatorial mount. The ashes of the astronomer Daniel Walter Morehouse, and those of his wife Myrtle, are interred within the wall of the observatory rotunda.