Physics + Astronomy Facilities
Facilities matter
Physics students have access to outstanding facilities, an optics research lab, materials science and engineering research labs, electron microscopy lab, electronics lab, machine shop and Hobbs Observatory.
Students have the opportunity to use excellent on-campus state-of-the-art materials science facilities including instrumentation housed in the Materials Science Center. Instrumentation includes: a scanning Auger nanoprobe, a transmission electron microscope, a scanning electron microscope, an x-ray photoelectron spectrometer, a scanning tunneling electron microscope, atomic force microscopes, a high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer, x-ray diffractometer, x-ray fluorescence spectrometer and a molecular beam epitaxial growth chamber to name a few.
L.E. Phillips Planetarium
Experience the beauty of the night sky while you learn about astronomy. The L.E. Phillips Planetarium seats up to 50 guests and offers both public and private showings.
Hobbs Observatory
The beauty of west-central Wisconsin is that we have the great outdoors right at our fingertips, and right in our campus “backyard” we have an incredible facility called the Hobbs Observatory. Located on the Beaver Creek Reserve about 15 miles from campus, the observatory houses a 24-inch computer-controlled Newtonian reflector telescope, a 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, a state-of-the-art CCD camera and a full-size classroom.
This unique facility is a community resource as well and is co-operated with the Chippewa Valley Astronomical Society.