Koffler accelerator explained

The Koffler particle accelerator of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, was built in 1976. The building became a symbol of the institute. In 2011, an astronomical observatory was opened on the top of the building.

Building

The accelerator building, designed by architect in Formalist style, was completed in 1976. It has two towers, of 57 and 53 meters high, and an "egg-shaped structure", 22 by 14 meters in its widest points. It became a symbol of the Weizmann Institute of Science.^{[1] [2]} It was designed to have "a close resemblance to the original van de Graaff accelerators".^[3] It is named after Murray Koffler, who was the first Chair of Weizmann Canada.^[4] Now it serves as a conference hall.

Accelerator

The original accelerator installed in 1977 was a 14UD pelletron tandem accelerator, built by National Electrostatics Corp.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Observatory

The Martin S. Kraar Observatory on top of the accelerator building was opened in 2011.^[8] It is named after the philanthropist Martin S. Kraar.^[9] The observatory is remotely-operated.^[8] There are two telescopes there, the larger one is 41 cm, and the second one is 80 mm guide telescope, both connected to CCD cameras.^[10]

Further reading

• Goldring . Gvirol . Hass . Michael . Paul . Michael . Laboratory Portrait: The Accelerator Laboratory at the Weizmann Institute . Nuclear Physics News . July 2004 . 14 . 3 . 5–13 . 10.1080/10506890491034875 . 15 January 2024 . en . 1061-9127.

31.9081°N 34.8123°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Koffler Accelerator . Weizmann Institute . 14 January 2024.
2. Web site: Cement (Photography, film) . Arts . Weizmann Institute . 15 January 2024 . en . 2 May 2022.
3. Israel's new accelerator . Physics Bulletin . November 1977 . 28 . 11 . 505 . 10.1088/0031-9112/28/11/016 . 15 January 2024 . en . 0031-9112.
4. Web site: Reed . Jon . A tribute to Murray Koffler . Weizmann Canada . 14 January 2024 . en-CA . 19 December 2018.
5. Goldring . Gvirol . The new accelerator facility in rehovot . Nuclear Structure Physics . 1973 . 254–266 . 10.1007/3-540-06554-7_13 . 15 January 2024 . Springer . en.
6. Goldring . G. . The Koffler accelerator in Rehovot . Revue de Physique Appliquée . 1977 . 12 . 10 . 1309–1314 . 10.1051/rphysap:0197700120100130900 .
7. Berkovits . D . Paul . M . Ben-Dov . Y . Bordeanu . C . Ghelberg . S . Heber . O . Hass . M . Shahar . Y . Verri . G . Upgrading of the AMS facility at the Koffler 14UD Pelletron accelerator . Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms . 1 August 2004 . 223-224 . 161–167 . 10.1016/j.nimb.2004.04.033 . 14 January 2024 . 0168-583X.
8. Web site: About the Observatory The Martin S. Kraar Observatory . www.weizmann.ac.il . 14 January 2024 . en . 1 September 2015.
9. Web site: Martin S. Kraar The Martin S. Kraar Observatory . www.weizmann.ac.il . 14 January 2024 . en . 1 September 2015.
10. Web site: A Dual-Purpose Observatory ScienceBlogs . scienceblogs.com . 14 January 2024 . en.