Health & Fitness
“Star Gazing,” at Eastern University’s Bradstreet Observatory
"Star Gazing," at Eastern University's Bradstreet Observatory
Eastern University’s Bradstreet Observatory provides an adventure in Star Gazing free at charge. On Tuesday evenings until May, you can make a reservation to observe the planets and night skies that float above the landscape.
Dr. David H. Bradstreet, the Chair; Professor of Astronomy and Physics; Observatory/Planetarium Director at Eastern University granted a tour of this interesting facility.
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Check out the video of Dr. Bradstreet’s tour of his namesake observatory.
Dr. Bradstreet also discussed the expansion of the attached Julia Fowler Planetarium. Eastern University would like to pursue fundraising efforts to expand the seating of the Planetarium to accommodate more attendees.” Currently the maximum seating capacity is around 35 people.
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Dr. Bradstreet’s Observatory Administrator, Mr. Steven Sanders gave the night tour of the Bradstreet observatory. Attendees were able to take turns looking in the telescope checking out the close-ups of the “Moon,” along with other planets, “Jupiter,” “Venus,” “Uranus.” and “The Orion Nebula,”
According to Eastern University’s website, “The telescopes can also be completely controlled remotely via ancillary computer systems. Pentium IV 2.8GHz computers using Software Bisque’s The Sky6 software allow the user to point and click on a star map and send the telescope precisely to over 19 million objects, the same database used by the Hubble Space Telescope. Recent US Naval Observatory software updates have expanded this database to over 526 million objects! “The Observatory consists of twin 14.5-foot diameter galvaluminum Ash Domes, able to rotate 360 degrees. The shutters are designed to slide up behind the dome, with a lower shutter that lowers downward, allowing the observer to see from the horizon to the zenith. The domes are controllable not only from within the dome but also remotely from the Russell Control Room.”
Please Note: The public observation sessions usually start around 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. and run about an hour and a half. Sessions are held on Tuesdays until May and then the next session starts in the fall.
For information about Public Observing Sessions, contact Steve Sanders, at ssander2@eastern.edu or 610.341.1390.
