Construction
The UMBC Observatory was first opened just before the Summer of 1999. It was funded as part of the UMBC Physics Building construction. It was originally conceived by Professor-Emeritus Dr. Harvey Melfi–the then director of the Joint Center for Earthsystems Technology (JCET). After Dr. Melfi’s retirement, duty of care was passed to a core group of faculty at UMBC that continue to administer the UMBC Observatory Group and its projects.
2000-2013
First Light
Second Light
2013-2020
Start of Pandemic