Columbia University Astronomy Department
The historic Rutherfurd Observatory resides on the top of Columbia University's Pupin Physics Laboratory housing the university's astronomy and physics departments. It was here that the atom was first split in the United States on January 25, 1939 by Enrico Fermi. It was also one of the original laboratories of the Manhattan Project, the secret project to develop the first nuclear weapon during World War II. More recently, the observatory's astronomical research has been curtailed by the advent of light pollution; nevertheless, it is still one of the best places in Manhattan to view the stars.