The Martin S. Kraar Observatory

The Weizmann Institute of Science’s observatory, named after Martin S. Kraar, former Executive Vice President, American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (1998-2008), resides on top of the service tower of the Koffler Accelerator building. This is the Weizmann Institute of Science, in Rehovot, Israel, most famous landmark, visible from everywhere on campus and outside. The observatory was officially inaugurated in March, 2011.

The observatory’s primary mission is to serve for educational purposes, although it has been used for scientific research as well. In order to cater to the needs of remotely located users, the observatory is designed and equipped to be remotely operated, with no observer present in the observatory. All aspects of the observatory’s operation, including the telescope, the digital camera and all auxiliary equipment, can be remotely activated from anywhere through the Internet. You can read more about it here.

Although it is relatively new, the Martin S. Kraar observatory has already participated in, and contributed vital data to, several scientific discoveries. You can read more about these here.

Tens of high-school students, preparing science projects in astronomy, have been using the observatory to obtain many nights of useful data. You can read more about this here.

The observatory is also used for as a test-bed for new astronomical instrumentation developed at the department of Particle Phsyics and Astrophysics. You can read more about this here).

The Martin S. Kraar observatory is operated under the auspices of the Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, and The Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics. It is supported financially also by The Center for Planetary Science and the Kraar Foundation.  It is managed by Mr. Ilan Manulis.

.