The History of Observatory Park

Observatory Park was developed at Turner Farm from the old Nike missile tracking site. Past Analemma Society President Jeffrey Kretsch told Sky and Telescope how the Analemma Society helped turn a former Cold War missile control site into a thriving observatory park. In the 1950's Turner Farm was a dairy farm, but with the Cold War in 1955, the Federal Government took 11.7 acres of the farm to build the Nike Missile Control Center W-83 as one of the first of 13 sites where surface-to-air missiles were installed. Originally operated by the U.S. Army, in 1961 the complex with its buildings and radar structures was turned over to the U.S. Army Map Service, which a decade later became the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA). Nike missiles were obsolete, but the Turner Farm facility was given a new charter to accurately measure the earth's gravitational field by tracking satellites. How did Observatory Park come about? Read more at The Making of Turner Farm Observatory in the Star-Gazers Corner of Sky and Telescope.

The DMA facility closed in 1993 and the land was eventually turned over to the Fairfax County Park Authority (FCPA) in 1999, increasing the adjacent parkland that had been purchased in 1975. (Final purchase of the farmhouse was accomplished in 2010). In 2000, the Analemma Society was formed and shortly after entered into a cooperative agreement with the FCPA for the development of Observatory Park for science education using astronomy.

The Roll-Top Observatory

The Roll-Top Observatory was built in 2016 through a Fairfax County Park Authority bond initiative, a Mastenbrook grant, and through a generous donation by the Jean and Ric Edelman family. The Roll-Top was dedicated in October 2016 and as the name implies has a section of the roof that rolls away, leaving four telescopes on piers and several other portable telescopes available for public viewing of the night sky. Adjacent to the observing room is a classroom used for astronomy instruction. Fairfax County though its Parktakes program offers a host of astronomical courses at the Roll-Top for a small fee. These courses are presented throughout the year.

The Remote Astronomical Telescope Observatory (RATO)

The first astronomical resource at Observatory Park at Turner Farm was the Remote Astronomical Telescope Observatory (RATO). The cinder block tower was built in the 1960s by the United States Government as part of the Nike control site. When acquired by the Fairfax County Park Authority, it was adapted with remote computer control of a large telescope and a new rotating Ash Dome. Just north of the main observatory tower is the radio telescope structure built during the 1960s. Earlier versions of both structures were part of the Nike Missile Control Site and later retrofitted by DMA to suit their mission. The RATO tower is approximately 26 feet high, capped with a 16 foot diameter electrically driven Ash Dome. The building is separated from the telescope support, providing vibration free observing and has recently undergone renovation.