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RSS FeedsWelcome to the website of the Cody Middle School Observatory. In here you can find some of the latest images from our collection of telescopes. The observatory contains a 14" Celestron telescope and several other smaller telescopes which help expand the 8th grade student's knowledge and fascination of the universe. For more information about the facility click on the "About" link on the on the navigation pane to the left. [Read more about the observatory]
The facility is primarily available for use within the school district but is also available for use by other groups and organizations. Pete Idema is the manager of the observatory and Amos Olson and Brian and Brandon Reavis manage the website. Enjoy!
The CMS Astronomy Club met Jan. 28th and enjoyed viewing, drawing, searching moon maps, and listening to moon lore. The seeing conditions were not very good (Mars looked like a flickering red candle through our turbulent moist atmosphere) but kids still captured some images. We will post some when the kids get a chance to process the video clips they took. For now I posted a shot of Tycho Crater. We will meet again next month.
This month promises to be a great month for observing! According to Astronomy magazine, Mars makes its best show in 26 months. It is the brilliant red-orange "star" visible in the SW in the early morning. Jupiter is still visible after dark and is an extra special target this month as January marks the 400th anniversary of when Galileo discovered of the 4 giant moons of Jupiter. For those interested in constellations, Orion, the hunter, is visible most of the night. Enjoy!
After a long hiatus while work was being done on it, the big scope and its controlling computer are again on speaking terms! Over Christmas break I reconnected it, synced the scope, did a short mapping run and used the computer to point the scope at various stars to check the pointing and tracking. A new mapping model needs to be run since so many things have been adjusted, but the pointing was close and the tracking was great. Having been re-collimated last school year, it is also seeing clearly again. Hurray!
For those with telescopes you might want to peer through it at Jupiter on the evening of October 24th at 7:18 pm. For about 8 minutes or so Io, Jupiter\'s volcanic moon, will pass in front of another huge moon, Europa. It should be neat watching the two points of light merge together and then separate a few minutes later!
Clear Sky Clock