The Southeast Iowa Astronomy Club will host an observing weekend on Friday, September 18th and Saturday, September 19th at the Big Hollow Recreation Area Witte Observatory Complex near Sperry, Iowa. The Observatory will be open for public viewing from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The complex houses the Witte Observatory, the Prugh-Carver Observatory, and the Stone-Kelly Observatory.
The observing weekend commemorates the fifth anniversary of the Stone-Kelly Observatory. The Observatory is named for two Burlington space pioneers, Dr. Ed Stone, former Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Voyager Fame, and Astronaut Jim Kelly, Pilot on STS-114 Discovery and Return to Flight missions. The Stone-Kelly Observatory houses a 16 inch Ealing Cassegrain telescope. Besides the Ealing, there are two other telescopes in the bservatory Complex. Witte houses a 12 inch aperture refractor manufactured in 1937 by Alvan Clark & Sons. It is doublet achomate design with a brass tube approximately 15 feet long, resting on a German Equatorial mount. Depending on the eyepiece used, it can magnify celestial objects up to nearly 400 times. The telescope is believed to be the largest refractor in Iowa. John H. Witte, Jr. gave the telescope to the Burlington Community School District housed at Apollo School. When light pollution became a problem, the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club constructed a building to accommodate the large telescope. The project was complete in May of 1987. The Prugh Carver Observatory, with its unique roll-off roof, houses John H. Witte’s personal 8-inch refractor manufactured in 1931 and donated in 1996.
The Astronomy Club will be offering a Continuing Adult Education Course this Fall through Southeastern Community College entitled Backyard Astronomy for Beginners. Four evening sessions are planned relating to observing: the Evening Sky, Tools and Techniques, Solar System Observations, and Constellation Legends and Mythology. The course will be taught by Astronomy Club members. Both the observation weekend and the astronomy course are part of the national activity celebrating 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy, a world-wide effort to involve people in everyday astronomy, not just big news astronomy.
The Witte Observatory is open to public viewing every 1st and 3rd Friday of each month. To get to the viewing complex, take Highway 61 North from Burlington. After approximately 12 miles, turn West onto Pleasant Grove Road (note the Big Hollow sign). Continue 2.8 miles and then turn South onto 152nd Avenue. Proceed 1 mile to the Observatory.
For more information, contact Starr’s Cave Nature Center at (319) 753-5808 or e-mail, starcave@co.desmoines.ia.us. For a map, visit the Des Moines County Conservation website: www.dmcconservation.com.
No comment yet