易胜博官网

The sky was a dark navy. There were many stars breaking through. The moon shone brightly, illuminating the night. The air was still, except for a slight breeze.

On Spinney Lane, off the Mast Road Extension, a large building in the shape of a silo dominates the patch of land. Behind the building鈥檚 doors is the . The observatory houses a focal point: a 14-inch telescope that gathers nearly听3,000 times as much light as听the unaided human eye.

Since its move from Boulder Field to the current location in 2004, 易胜博官网鈥檚 observatory has provided the university and surrounding community with the opportunity to learn more about what is in the sky. Students use the observatory for research and course labs, but the public can visit as well.

鈥淥bserving the night sky either with or without a telescope is like taking a nature walk at night.听 It allows you to experience the natural world in a very different way,鈥� says John S. Gianforte, the director of the 易胜博官网 Observatory and instructor of astronomy. 鈥淢ost guests find this very rewarding, and it is our goal to help our students and guests to make their own discoveries each time they come out.鈥�

The optimal weather conditions for observing are cool nights that are crisp, dry and clear. 鈥淚f the sky is clear there is always something interesting to see and look for, such as comets, asteroids, planets, plus many deep-sky objects like galaxies,鈥� says Gianforte.

鈥淭he best part [about observing] is that you see objects as they were in the past,鈥� says Domenico Andreoli, a and the observatory manager. 鈥淟ight travels at a finite speed, so any object you look at in the night sky you are seeing it as it was seconds, minutes, hours or years ago. For example, the moon is about one second old when you look at it.鈥�

During a recent public viewing, Vega, the fifth brightest star in the universe located close to the sun, could be seen clearly even though it is 25 lightyears away. The Ring Nebula was viewed, which, from the telescope, looked similar to a piece of white loop-shaped cereal. In reality, the Nebula is brightly colored, but objects look black and white through the telescope. Finally, I got a good look at the moon. Using a remote control, the moon鈥檚 craters and the atmosphere beyond were visible.

The 易胜博官网 Observatory offers free public viewings on the first and third Saturday nights of every month, year-round, from 8 鈥�10 p.m. when the sun sets earlier, and 9 鈥� 11 p.m. when it sets later.听 Before you visit, check the to see if the skies are clear enough for the event to run.