We Need Your Help!
The Little Thompson Observatory was built by a large group of local volunteers and it operates entirely with the donations of money, time and talent from our visitors and volunteers. Our financial donors make it possible to pay the everyday bills and sometimes not-so-everyday expenses of running the Observatory. Because we are an all volunteer organization, 100% of your donation goes toward the operation and maintenance of the Observatory.
If you would like to support the LTO you can donate using your credit or debit card. We use PayPal to process your donation. When you click on the Donate button below, you will be taken to the secure PayPal web-site. When you are done, you can return to the LTO web-site. There is no need to have a PayPal account. Please contact us if you want to donate stock, other securities, or establish an endowment, so we can provide the appropriate contact and account information.
Click the donate button below to start the process:
If you prefer you can mail your donation:
Our mailing address is – PO Box 930, Berthoud, CO 80513
Projects your contributions have made possible:
At present, we have finished the installation and alignment of the historic 24-inch Mt. Wilson telescope in our Observatory. During the summer of 2015 we contracted with L&L Optical Services in Santa Ana, CA for the primary mirror to be stripped and re-coated with an enhanced AL coating, for improved reflectivity.
We have installed new control systems for our 24″ dome (thank you Tom Melsheimer, Meridian Controls Corp) and for our large 18″ and 24″ telescopes (thank you Software Bisque, Golden, CO).
A MallinCam astro-video camera has being purchased in 2015 and will be added to the one of our telescopes. in Spring 2015, thanks to a generous grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado.
During the summer of 2017 we added a large storage space for the many small telescopes that are used by the Berthoud High School district wide astronomy class. We also remodeled our old storage area into a new Radio Astronomy room, with dedicated computer systems running the various radio frequency receivers in support of the STEM program at the high school.
In 2017 we again received a generous grant from the Community Foundation for Northern Colorado to purchase a new Hydrogen-Alpha Solar Telescope to improve our observations of the sun during daytime visits.
Our next project will be to add a precision electrically operated focusing system to one of our telescopes to accommodate auto-focus operations with the MallinCam camera. Any donation towards this and other projects is greatly appreciated.
Please include your name and return address, so we can send you a thank you card and acknowledgement of your donation. We greatly appreciate donations in any amount. We will provide tax receipts upon request.
If you visit us at the Observatory you can also get a token of our appreciation for your donation from our gift shop.
Thank you for your generosity!
