Finished!

On October 20, 2007, Lynchburg College dedicated the new 700-square-foot Belk Observatory at the College's Claytor Nature Study Center (CNSC). The observatory represents the next step in the educational development of the Center, which currently offers a wealth of educational and research programs and outreach opportunities in the areas of hydrology, forest ecology and management, physical geology, environmental chemistry, meteorology, and earth science to college and university students, secondary school students and educators, and community groups.

This new facility will greatly expand the College’s nascent solar system and stellar astronomy curriculum, enhance the environmental education mission of the CNSC, and fulfill the Center's goal of providing hands-on, field-based educational opportunities in all of the core earth science disciplines, thus offering greater educational outreach opportunities to the students and citizens of the region.

The facility will begin hosting public viewing nights in 2008.  Check back for regular updates on our progress, and make plans to join us under the stars early next year!