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The first major astronomical facility of the
National Observatory was the No. 1 36-inch,
which became operational in March 1960. Since
then, the telescope has been used for a wealth
of spectroscopic, photographic, and photometric
programs.
A CCD camera was installed in 1984, and quickly
became the instrument of choice for observers
doing deep, wide-field imaging and photometry.
The No. 2 36-inch telescope became operational
in 1966 (shortly after the 84-inch was commissioned),
and has primarily been used for photoelectric
photometry.
During the summer of 1990 the site of the No. 1
was cleared for use by the 3.5-m WIYN telescope,
and a single 0.9m facility was made using the
best of both telescopes; the old No. 1 telescope
is housed in the old No. 2 dome. At that time,
operation of the telescope was moved to a control
room located downstairs, in order to remove
heat-sources from the telescope area, and in
order to provide a more comfortable and efficient
observing environment.
In 2001 the WIYN Consortium took over operations
of the 0.9m telescope. Upgrading the control
system and installing new motors and encoders
in all axes was performed by Astronomical Consultants
and Equipment, Inc. Images from the renovations
can be found here.
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