|
News
|
|
Written by Brandon Steinert
|
|
Wednesday, 19 August 2009 08:00 |
|
Dave Hudgins’ fascination with the night sky and his enthusiasm in sharing his knowledge with others shone in his eyes brighter than the stars displayed in his telescope. Hudgins helped out by displaying a telescope he built from Galileo’s designs at the Astronomical Society of Kansas City’s Louisburg Night at the Powell Observatory on Friday evening. He even dressed for the part. 
Vice president of ASKC Tim Kristl said the event was intended to benefit both the observatory and Louisburg citizens.
“The goal was to tell (Louisburg) about the existence of the club and the kinds of things we do here and the benefits they bring to the city,” Kristl said. “We bring science and tourism to the community, but it seems like they don’t know we’re here.”
The event gave the public, specifically Louisburg residents, the opportunity to see the universe through high-powered telescopes. The largest one, known as the Gary C. Ruisinger Telescope named after its creator, is inside the observatory. The mirror, the size of which is a measure of its power, is 30 inches in diameter and weighs more than 180 pounds. It is housed in a 12.5-foot-long tube.
The open area outside of the observatory was crowded with individual telescopes, some of which held 20-inch mirrors. Louisburg residents were able to make their way through the forest of tripods to look at different constellations, planets and even other galaxies.
Before nightfall, most of the telescopes could be seen pointing to the west directly into the sun. Those who were sun-gazing used special filters in order to see the surface without damaging their vision.
Youngster Kerri Spillman said the sight was “specsome,” which is a word she invented by combining the words “spectacular” and “awesome.”
Powell Observatory will be open to the public every Saturday evening through October for the Astronomical Society of Kansas City Star Bright Saturday Night program.
The ASKC owns a smaller telescope available for educational use by the local school. Any teacher can use it with a reservation.
More information about the observatory, ASKC and the evenings open to the public can be found at www.askc.org.
Trackback(0)
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed