History
The observatory is named in honor of Mr. Curtis Torrey Vaughan Jr., longtime successful businessman, philanthropist, and local amateur astronomer in the San Antonio area. As a result of his interest in astronomy, he was involved for many years with the McDonald Observatory located in Fort Davis, Texas and served as Chairman of the McDonald Observatory Board of Visitors.
The telescope in our observatory once belonged to Mr. Vaughan. It is a research grade 16" Meade LX200 Advanced Coma-Free telescope that was donated to UTSA for scientific research for physics and astronomy students. Currently, it is being used in tracking asteroids and minor orbiting bodies within our solar system for orbital tracking.
Curtis Vaughan, Jr.
Open Observatory Nights
The observatory hosts First Friday Stargazing beginning at sunset every first Friday of the month (weather permitting) and Friday Nights Celestial Lights, which occurs every third Friday of the month during the Spring and Fall semesters when school is in session.
The Telescopes
A complete overhaul of the facility began in early 2015 with the goal of increasing public outreach to the community, as well as creating a top-tier astronomical research station for astronomy-related science. The observatory has a wide variety of telescopes available for use in both public outreach and astronomical research.
The following telescopes are used at the observatory:
- 16-inch Meade LX200 Advanced Coma-Free Telescope
- 16-inch Meade LX200 GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope
- 15-inch Obsession Newtonian Reflector Telescope
- Two 8-inch Meade LX200 Advanced Coma-Free Telescopes
- 16-inch Meade DS-16 Newtonian Reflector
- 10-inch Orion XT10 Newtonian Reflector
- Lunt Calcium-K Solar Telescope
- Lunt Hydrogen Alpha Solar Telescope
Curtis Vaughan Jr. Observatory Location
Location: Flawn Science Building, 4th floor Phone: 210-458-5731
