The Goethe Link Observatory is an astronomical observatory near Brooklyn, Indiana (USA), owned by Indiana University and operated by the Indiana Astronomical Society. It is named in honour of Dr. Goethe Link, an Indianapolis surgeon, who built it with his private funds. Construction of the observatory started in 1937, and the telescope was first operated in 1939. Link donated the observatory to Indiana University in 1948.
A number of asteroid discoveries were made there, including 1578 Kirkwood. These are credited by the Minor Planet Center under the name "Indiana University," which operated the Indiana Asteroid Program at Goethe Link from 1949 until 1967 using a 10-inch (250 mm) f/6.5 Cooke triplet astrograph. The asteroid 1728 Goethe Link was discovered there on October 12, 1964.
When light pollution began to degrade the Goethe Link Observatory's capabilities in the 1960s, Indiana University built a new facility in the Morgan–Monroe State Forest officially designated as the Morgan–Monroe Station (MMS) of the Goethe Link Observatories.
Famous quotes containing the words goethe, link and/or observatory:
“One errs as long as one strives.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“Before I had my first child, I never really looked forward in anticipation to the future. As I watched my son grow and learn, I began to imagine the world this generation of children would live in. I thought of the children they would have, and of their children. I felt connected to life both before my time and beyond it. Children are our link to future generations that we will never see.”
—Louise Hart (20th century)
“Where there is an observatory and a telescope, we expect that any eyes will see new worlds at once.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)