The Harry D. Powell Astronomical Observatory was commissioned in 1999 and maintains state-of-the-art equipment for learning about the universe. While the observatory serves mainly as a teaching and research facility for astronomy students, it also functions as a public outreach facility with Star Party Open Houses. These events are free to the public and take place on select Saturdays from 8 to 10 p.m., with this semester’s Open Houses being held on Sept. 27, Nov. 1 and Nov. 9. Each of these events will provide information on a different astronomical topic and give guests an opportunity to use the telescopes to view the night sky.
“There’s nothing unique going on in the sky for this semester, but the planet Saturn is often everyone’s favorite to view because the rings are so astounding and you can see up to five moons, these little black points next to the planet itself,” said Gary Henson, director of ETSU’s Observatory and Planetarium. “Saturn will be perfectly positioned this fall to view through the telescope, so we’ll be able to see it beginning with our first event in late September.”
The Planetarium has a video projection system which provides a simulation of the night sky, animates real-world displays and shows films and videos about astronomical topics. This fall will introduce a few new videos into the Planetarium’s monthly public showings. Some of the topics for this semester will include the difficulties in a human voyage to Mars, Indigenous stories related to the constellations and how astronomy is related to the origins of Halloween.
For students interested in learning more about astronomy, the Physics and Astronomy Department offers three intro level courses which also provide more opportunities to use the facilities. These classes include Astronomy I (focused on the solar system), Astronomy II (focused on stars and galaxies) and Life in the Universe (focused on the unique properties of life and the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe).
“The Physics and Astronomy Department was just the Physics Department many, many years ago. But as we gained new faculty, we now have as many astronomers as we have physicists, so we became a combined department,” said Henson. “Since astronomy is all about looking at the sky and the stars and galaxies, early on, we wanted to have facilities in place to augment what we can do in terms of our course work.”
In the digital age, phones also give access to several apps that can help identify or give more information on celestial objects. While having experts in astronomy and access to these facilities is invaluable to learning, Henson also suggests the importance of taking the time to go outside.
“Our observatory serves our purposes, but if people want to really enjoy the sky, I say you need to get a few miles outside town somewhere. Find a nice secluded spot or turn off or go to a park area, somewhere that you can get access to and really enjoy it,” he said.
More information and full schedules for the Observatory and Planetarium events can be found on ETSU’s website at etsu.edu/cas/physics/observatory/.
