About Us

The Golden Ears Observatory

The Golden Ears Observatory (obs. code: U55) is a privately owned astronomical observatory located in the Silver Valley neighbourhood of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Vancouver.

The Observatory has a variety of telescope instrumentation including:

  • 0.36 m (14 in) Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope
  • 0.25 m (9.8 in) Ritchey–Chrétien telescope
  • Takahashi fsq-85edx f/5.3 astrograph refracting telescope
  • 6 inch Explore Scientific Refractor telescope
  • Quark Chromosphere H-alpha filter for solar observations
  • Full frame CMOS image sensor with UBVRI filters and spectrograph
  • Several German equatorial mounts
  • 8ft Skyshed Pod dome enclosure
  • Professional weather station

The observatory’s telescopes are used for observations of minor planets and Near-Earth objects. An automated software system extracts astrometry and photometry of the objects and reports it to the Minor Planet Centre. A separate AllSkyCamera system installed in the premises of the observatory automatically detects and reports Meteoroids to the American Meteor Society.

The Golden Ears Observatory Transient Survey (GEOTS) reports discoveries of transients to the International Astronomical Union.