Last Friday, a line formed outside the Shattuck Observatory as more than 30 Dartmouth students, Hanover residents and tourists waited to enter roofless wooden structure, barely 10 square feet in dimension, hoping to glimpse Saturn and Mars. Once inside, several steps lead up to the two large black telescope, each at least 6 feet in height.
In the dark room, the voice of observatory assistant and astrophysics graduate student Erek Alper stood out over the chatter of families and groups of friends as he explained the visible galaxies and planets that could be seen through the telescope to eager ears.
Shattuck Observatory’s telescopes are open for free use every Friday night, and last Friday, high school campers had filled the small room. That night, instructor Michael Beechert ’16 said, was the observatory’s busiest all year.
“It’s like a mosh pit in there!” Chandler Boucher, a participant from the Thayer School of Engineering’s camp, said. The campers had learned about astronomy that day, and counselor Christian Ortiz ’11 Th’15 took them to the observatory to witness first-hand what they had learned.
On a day-to-day basis, the observatory is used for class instruction. The department of physics and astronomy’s website lists the planets, stars, clusters, nebulae and galaxies that will likely be visible that upcoming Friday.
Alper and Beechert, students in the physics and astronomy department, provide instruction for the telescopes and information about the celestial bodies.
Beechert said summer is the busiest time for the observatory, though public viewing is offered all year. Community members, especially parents with kids, make up the majority of observatory visitors, he said.
Maryland native Karen Cline, who is vacationing in New Hampshire for the summer, heard about the observatory while researching activities to do in the Upper Valley. Cline said that she thought that these public viewing sessions were great because seeing stars and planets through a telescope is different than looking at pictures in a textbook.
Amee Schecter, a high school student vacationing in Woodstock, heard about the free viewing sessions from her father. Schecter said that she wants to study astrophysics in college and was excited by the information on the observatory’s website.
“I’ve seen pictures on TV and off the Internet but never in person,” Schecter said. “Saturn was really cool.”
Ortiz had previously come to the Observatory when he took “Exploring the Universe.” He said that he regrets not taking advantage of the public viewing hours outside of the course.
“Now that I am a grad student looking back at my Dartmouth undergrad there are all these things I wish I had done,” Ortiz said.
Shattuck Observatory houses a telescope built in the early 1870s with a 9.5-inch diameter lens.
In 1852, astronomy professor Ira Young, Class of 1828, pressed the Board of Trustees for modern astronomical equipment to aid his instruction. As a result, Boston physician George Shattuck, Class of 1803, gave the College $7,000 to build an observatory, and the Board of Trustees granted an additional $4,000. Located behind Wilder Hall, Shattuck Observatory is the oldest physics and astronomy building on campus, dating back to 1854.
The College also owns a share of the largest telescope of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, the 11-meter Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) located in Sutherland, South Africa as well as the MDM Observatory in Kitt Peak, Arizona, which holds 1.3 and 2.4 meter telescopes.
Beginning in winter 2015, a new physics and astronomy foreign study program based in Cape Town, South Africa will make use of the telescope. Students will have the opportunity to collect data and tour the telescope, as well as interact with other programs hosted by the South African astronomical observatory.
Beechert is a member of the Dartmouth staff.
