---
type: Organization
title: Cinder Peak Observatory
description: An astronomical observatory, opened in 1998, that tracks median nightly
  atmospheric seeing and brought a new 1.2-metre telescope to first light on 1 May
  2026.
aliases:
- Cinderpeak Observatory
tags:
- astronomy
- observatory
- telescope
resource: raw/figure-brief.pdf
timestamp: '2026-07-16T15:20:21Z'
citadel_version: 0.3.0
---

Cinder Peak Observatory opened in 1998.[^s1] A 2025 brief summarizes the observatory's median nightly [seeing](../concepts/astronomical-seeing.md) through 2025, with monthly medians shown in a chart; raw nightly logs are archived internally and are not reproduced in the brief, which reports medians only.[^s1]

The observatory's original telescope was a 0.6-metre instrument that had been in service since the observatory opened in 1998, until it was replaced by a new 1.2-metre reflecting telescope that achieved first light on 1 May 2026, capturing its first test images of the night sky.[^s1][^s3] The new telescope is fitted with a modern wide-field camera and is used mainly for monitoring variable stars and for continuing the observatory's long-running atmospheric-seeing survey — the same survey whose 2025 monthly medians were published in the observatory's seeing brief.[^s4] Regular science observations are expected to begin after a commissioning period over the summer of 2026.[^s5]

> [!CONTRADICTION]
> raw/figure-brief.pdf reports the new telescope offers about three times the light-gathering area of the retired 0.6-metre telescope[^s2], but raw/press-release.md reports it roughly quadruples the light-gathering area[^s4].
>
> Resolution: light-gathering area scales with the square of a telescope's aperture; since the new telescope's 1.2-metre aperture is double the retired telescope's 0.6-metre aperture, that scaling implies a fourfold increase, making "roughly quadruples" the figure consistent with the telescopes' stated apertures — it is unclear why the figure brief instead reports about three times.[^llm1]

At the first-light announcement, the observatory's director said "first light is always the moment a telescope stops being a construction project and starts being an instrument."[^s5]

Public viewing nights are currently suspended while the observatory's dome is resurfaced; they will resume on their published schedule once the observatory reopens to visitors.[^s6] A public notice gives the schedule itself: the resurfacing closure runs from 3 to 17 April 2026, and the observatory reopens to visitors on 18 April 2026.[^s8] The *Meridian Gazette* is the observatory's newspaper of record.[^s6][^s7] The same notice directs readers to the Gazette for further updates.[^s8]

## See also
- [Astronomical Seeing](../concepts/astronomical-seeing.md)

## Sources
[^s1]: [raw/figure-brief.pdf](../../raw/figure-brief.pdf), p. 1 — observatory opened 1998; brief's scope (median nightly seeing through 2025, medians only, raw logs archived internally) (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s2]: [raw/figure-brief.pdf](../../raw/figure-brief.pdf), p. 1 — new instrument to continue the survey, about three times the light-gathering area of the retired 0.6-metre telescope (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s3]: [raw/press-release.md](../../raw/press-release.md), lines 5-8 — new 1.2-metre reflecting telescope achieved first light 1 May 2026; replaces the original 0.6-metre telescope, in service since the observatory opened (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s4]: [raw/press-release.md](../../raw/press-release.md), lines 10-13 — new telescope roughly quadruples light-gathering area, fitted with a modern wide-field camera, used mainly for variable-star monitoring and the atmospheric-seeing survey; 2025 monthly medians published in "Cinderpeak Observatory"'s seeing brief (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s5]: [raw/press-release.md](../../raw/press-release.md), lines 15-17 — director's first-light quote; regular science observations expected after a summer commissioning period (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s6]: [raw/press-release.md](../../raw/press-release.md), lines 19-21 — public viewing nights suspended for dome resurfacing, resume on published schedule; details in the Meridian Gazette (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s7]: [raw/press-release.md](../../raw/press-release.md), lines 23-24 — media note: the Meridian Gazette is the observatory's newspaper of record (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^s8]: [raw/scanned-notice.pdf](../../raw/scanned-notice.pdf), p. 1 — public notice: viewing nights suspended 3-17 April 2026 for dome resurfacing, reopens to visitors 18 April 2026, updates directed to the Meridian Gazette (ingested 2026-07-16)
[^llm1]: LLM - model knowledge, not from a raw file: light-gathering area of a circular aperture scales with the square of its diameter (added 2026-07-16)
