Particle acclerator and observatory in the Weizmann institute
Koffler accelerator
The Koffler particle accelerator of the
Weizmann Institute of Science in
Rehovot, Israel, was built in 1976. The building became a symbol of the institute. In 2011, an astronomical observatory was opened on the top of the building.
Building
The accelerator building, designed by architect
Moshe Harel [
he] in
Formalist style, was completed in 1976. It has two towers, of 57 and 53 meters high, and an "egg-shaped structure", 22 by 14 meters in its widest points. It became a symbol of the
Weizmann Institute of Science.[1][2] It was designed to have "a close resemblance to the original van de Graaff accelerators".[3] It is named after
Murray Koffler, who was the first Chair of Weizmann Canada.[4] Now it serves as a conference hall.
The Martin S. Kraar Observatory on top of the accelerator building was opened in 2011.[8] It is named after the philanthropist
Martin S. Kraar.[9] The observatory is remotely-operated.[8] There are two telescopes there, the larger one is 41 cm, and the second one is 80 mm guide telescope, both connected to CCD cameras.[10]