Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: News

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The Brooks Astronomical Observatory has allowed the CMU community to view the far reaches of space since 1964.

Located on the rooftop of Brooks Hall, the observatory, which has gone through several facelifts over the years, has a computer-controlled telescope allowing astronomy students and the general public to see the heavens.

"When you have the opportunity to use an instrument like the CMU D-16 telescope that we have, it gives the hands on experience that is impossible to get from a textbook," said Indian River junior Ashley D. Smith. "We are extremely lucky to have such a great tool on campus."

Astronomy Professor Glen Williams said the observatory's telescope is state-of-the-art.

"(The telescope) is used both for teaching and research," Williams said. "Students have used the telescope for senior thesis projects and for master's thesis projects. (Recently retired astronomy professor) Dr. (Wayne) Osborn and I have also used the telescope for our own research, which has been published in astronomy journals."

Smith said using the observatory will help give her the edge in trying to impress potential employers when she graduates.

"Hands-on experience is great to have, especially when looking for jobs in the astronomy field," she said. "No one wants to hire someone to work their telescope if they don't know what they are doing."

Mount Pleasant senior Heather Gill said she was amazed to find just how useful the telescope is.

"We have done labs to figure out how fast an asteroid is moving or the size of the coma of the comet Holmes," Gill said. "To do these things is very exciting because you could find the size of the comet just by looking it up. But when you actually calculate it for yourself and find that it is larger than Jupiter, it is very exciting to know that you can do this kind of thing using the telescope at your own university."

However, the observatory is not only for astronomy students.

Monthly public open nights were established in 1976 and allow anyone to use the facilities one night out of the month.

The next open night is Jan. 17. There is no December date because of winter break.


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