Visit the 22nd story of St. Mary’s University’s Loyola Building to learn about the stars and planets, plus see their impressive collection of high-powered telescopes. The observatory is named in honour of Reverend M. W. Burke-Gaffney, S. J (1896-1979).

An anonymous benefactor who wished to honour Saint Mary’s University’s well-loved astronomer made the Observatory possible. The main instrument featured at the observatory is an Ealing 41cm diameter Cassegrain reflecting telescope. It is motor driven to compensate for the rotation of the Earth and has a computer-controlled positioning system. Once an object is located, it can be guided accurately during long time-exposure images.

The observatory is primary used for teaching, public tours, and modest research projects including studying the nature of the aging processes in variable stars, searching for extra-galactic supernovae, and charting the orbits of asteroids in our solar system.

In addition to visual observations, several instruments are commonly used with the telescope. These include an ST6 and ST8 CCD electronic imaging cameras, 35mm cameras, and two spectrographs. White-light and Hydrogen-alpha solar filters are used to observe and photograph the Sun. The observatory also owns portable 9cm and 20cm telescopes.

The observatory is open year round on clear evenings. Admission is free.