• Preparing the Site
• The Telescope Pier
• Foundation
• Building Construction 
• Electricity Comes to IHO
• The Concrete Floor
• The Tool Shed
• Our Observing Home

Updated July 8, 2007

The 16" Stokes Reflector

Indian Hill Observatory, located in Huntsburg Township Ohio, is home to The Chagrin Valley Astronomical Society's 16" telescope, pictured at the left, a 14" Dobsonian mounted on a moveable platform and a 12 inch Meade telescope housed in a dome that was constructed in Summer 2003. There are regular public nights through out the year to educate the public about astronomy.

Click here for a general overview map of Indian Hill Observatory. Click here for a detailed map to the observatory.  Here's a Google map link.  Our winter meeting location (the 1st Monday of November thru April) is at The Rookery, a Geauga County Metropark

Starting with Preparing the Site , follow the links at the left for a photo history of the observatory construction.

Since our 1963 founding, CVAS members had dreams of building an observatory at a dark-sky site near the Chagrin Valley. That dream came true in May 1978 when longtime member Ian Cooper met college professor, videographer and science enthusiast Keith Richards at the Geauga County Fair. After some "shrewd negotiations" by Ian, Keith invited us to his property in Huntsburg township. I was there that first Friday evening in May 1978, observing magnificent dark skies that were unknown to me living in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland.

The following weekend, club members were on the Indian Hill site preparing it for what became a 4 year project in building Indian Hill Observatory. While major work was completed in 1981, the building has been upgraded over the years with electricity, phone, an 8 inch Schmidt camera and computer controlled guiding. 

Recent milestones include 1) our application and approval of our tax exempt status and 2) purchasing the two acres of obervatory land that we had been leasing from Keith since 1978. Major projects in the next couple of years include expanding the parking lot, improving the telescope operations and expand our public education programs.

Check out this these 2 CCD images taken through the 16 inch telescope.  M13, the image on the left was taken in July 2002 and is a stack of 10, 30 second exposures, dark subtracted and stretched with a mild unsharp mask applied.  Camera is a Genesis G-16 with a KAF1600 CCD.  M27, on the right was taken in September 2002 and processed to bring out the color.  Both pictures were a collaborative effort between CVAS members Jim Brownfield and Marty Niemi.