The Orchard Hill Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at the highest point on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. Constructed in 1965, the observatory is a red brick building with a 16 inch Cassegrain reflector optical telescope. It is used for several community events and is regularly open for public viewing on Thursday nights. Originally the observatory was home to a 20” telescope, given to the department by an avid amateur who lived in central Massachusetts. It was a 1/10th scale model (loosely) of a larger 200” scope. Eventually, a crack was spotted during one of the re-aluminizings of the 20” mirror and the scope was no more. In the meantime, the department had been granted money associated with its move from Hasbrouck to the Grad Research Tower to buy a small telescope and put in on top of the GRC. The GRC had a small "isolation" pad built on its roof, which was supposed to be a mount for the scope, which could be accessed via a small open elevator. However, the GRC had terrible noise and gross vibration problems. The isolation pad never worked and there were too many safety concerns about using the roof of the building for observing.