Kansas skies ideal backdrop for observatory

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July 21, 2008

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Jul 21, 2008, 11:22 AM CDT

By Roger Nomer

rnomer@joplinglobe.com

GIRARD, Kan. — Just west of Girard sits a piece of a famous astronomer’s legacy to his home state. Nestled between a cornfield and a cemetery is the Pittsburg State University-Greenbush Astrophysical Observatory.

Inside its silver dome is a telescope designed and used by Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto.

“Our telescope is a really neat piece of equipment and a piece of history as well,” said Josh Cochran, observatory coordinator.

Tombaugh built the telescope for research while teaching at New Mexico State University. When the university lost the rights to land for its observatory in 1993, it put out an e-mail looking for people interested in taking the telescope. Pittsburg State University physics professor David Kuehn, an alumnus of New Mexico State, said he jumped at the chance. He negotiated to buy the telescope at a reduced price and set about transporting the equipment to PSU. He even rented a U-haul truck and drove the delicate mirror of the telescope cross country by himself.

Tombaugh had several connections to Kansas. Between discovering Pluto at the age of 23 and ending his career teaching at New Mexico State, he attended the University of Kansas and earned a degree in astronomy. Also, his family moved to the small town of Burdett when he was a baby, and he spent a good portion of his childhood growing up in Kansas.

Kuehn, who met Tombaugh a few times while at New Mexico State, said he thought Tombaugh viewed his telescope moving to Kansas as an act of good will. “I think Tombaugh was happy the telescope ended up in Kansas,” Kuehn said.

The Greenbush Science Center has put the telescope to use since it was added to the center’s wide range of educational programs in 1996. It has a free monthly astronomy program for the public on the Friday closest to the first quarter moon.

Rather than breaking out their lunar calendars, Cochran said, people can check the Web site at www.greenbush.org or call the center at (620) 724-6281 for a schedule of programs. Upcoming programs will include presentations on the planets and different galaxies.

“We want to be able to reach 7-year-olds as well as adults,” Cochran said. “So we work hard to make the programs appeal to all ages.”

Programs are targeted toward what is visible at that time of the year, he said. July’s program focused on planets and constellations that are visible in the summer.

Seated on beanbags and theater chairs, about 50 people gazed at a vast ceiling of simulated stars in the planetarium. Cochran pointed out visible constellations and explained the history behind them. He also fielded random questions from the audience, including one about the recent reclassification of Tombaugh’s Pluto as a dwarf planet.

After the planetarium comes the real attraction, as the public gets to view the night sky through the large telescope.

“There’s a real ooh-and-aah factor from climbing up a ladder to look through a telescope on a clear night,” Cochran said. “It allows us to see a lot of things people couldn’t ordinarily see with a smaller backyard telescope, like details on the rings of Saturn or the craters of the moon.”

Indeed, gasps were heard as people looked into the telescope that is roughly the size of a small car. The target for the night was the moon, and children raced down the ladder to tell their parents what they saw through the eyepiece.

“I saw the moon!” said Jacob Lamb, 7. “It was really round, and it had holes and cracks in it.”

His mother, Kim Lamb, laughed and said Jacob had told her at breakfast that morning that he had waited all his life to look through a big telescope. “He’s always looking up at the stars with his dad,” she said.

Tombaugh probably would have understood the appeal. Cochran said the Kansas countryside is a perfect environment for viewing the stars. “It is a lot of fun,” he said. “Sometimes I find myself out here at 2 a.m. just looking up at the sky. The stars are so bright here, and it’s so quiet.”

Another option for local sky gazers is an observatory in Lamar, Mo. The Stilabower Observatory, located next to Lamar High School, is open to the public by appointment. This unique observatory was designed by Ralph Williston, a former teacher at the school. The telescope is built low to the ground, eliminating the need for a ladder to reach the eyepiece. Williston built the observatory to be easily accessible to wheelchairs and young children.

“To my knowledge, this is the only observatory with this particular design,” Williston said.

To set up an appointment to visit the Stilabower Observatory, people may call the Lamar Vo-Tech School at (417) 682-3384 or Walter Powell at (417) 682-3745 with a couple weeks’ notice.

Destination: The PSU-Greenbush Astrophysical Observatory at the Abernathy Science Education Center.

Directions: The Greenbush observatory is just west of Girard, Kan. Take Missouri Highway 171 north across the state line. Turn right on U.S. 69 and continue through Pittsburg and Frontenac. Turn left on Kansas 47 and follow it through Girard. The observatory is on the campus of the Abernathy Science Education Center, on the left.

Address: 947 W. Highway 47, Girard.

Features: The observatory has monthly astronomy programs that are free and open to the public. The programs feature a planetarium show and a chance to look through the observatory’s telescope, weather permitting. Upcoming programs include “Other Planets” at 8 p.m. on Aug. 8 and “Jupiter” at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 5.

Distance from Joplin: 52 miles.

Cost of round trip: Using a car that gets 30 miles per gallon and gasoline at $3.85 a gallon, the trip from Joplin to the Greenbush Observatory in Girard costs $13.35. Admission to the programs is free.

On the Net: www.greenbush.org.