Allegheny Observatory

The winding roads that you encounter first going up Observatory Hill bring anticipation and wonder to who make the trek. At the top, the Allegheny Observatory sits facing the city faintly in the distance. Although Pittsburgh has the reputation of a modern city, the Allegheny Observatory maintains a historical value rarely found in the area.

When entering the building, you are surrounded by a variety of artifacts such as old telescopes and astronomical tools used in the early days of astronomy. The Great Room where tours gather before their night among the stars is spacious and grand. Highlighted artwork featured in the observatory are the stained glass windows such as Urania by Mary Elizabeth Tillinghaus depicting a Grecian woman in front of a night sky and a life-size statue of John Brashear, a former director of the observatory. They are also a feature many visitors enjoy admiring due to the captivating colors of the window and the clean presentation of the marble statue.

The observatory library is also a feature included on the tour. It hosts many scientific journals and astronomical textbooks that can only be found in this location. When finally reaching the top of the observatory, you are able to witness the massive telescopes used by astronomers who have made profound discoveries.

Like any observatory, the Allegheny is home to multiple telescopes, each with their own unique story on who used it, their contributions to advancing technology and any discoveries made with them. The telescope with the most interesting history is the Fitz-Clark Refractor which is the last one visited on reserved tours and comes with some baggage. Originally purchased from Mr. Fitz in New York in 1861, the telescope was at first used for pleasure by the club before handed over to the University of Pittsburgh. But when Professor Langley was named Director, the lens for this telescope was stolen and ransom was posted to get it back. Realizing this behavior would snowball, he refused to pay ransom and found the lens in a garbage can unable to be used. Eventually Fitz was able to make a new lens, which led to Langley’s assistant Keeler to make staggering observations about Saturn’s rings, especially that they were particulate (made of particles).

Another defiant telescope is the Thaw with a whopping 30” lens, the third biggest in the U.S. for refractors. Providing thousands of photographic plates studying distance of stars, parallax programs run by professors helped build this collection and give us a better idea of the scale of the universe. Placed on a massive elevator-like floor with a pulley system operated by train car wheels, the telescope can be situated near the top of the dome for optimal viewing or all the way to the ground floor.

First starting as casual exploration by an astronomy club, the Allegheny Observatory is rooted in curiosity and their telescopes and history reflects these values. Although all don’t play a role in present day research outsourced to larger corporations who can reach farther into the universe, their presence remains as a cornerstone in Pittsburgh’s history of scientific prowess.