Sommers-Bausch Observatory on the campus of the University of Colorado at Boulder will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a number of public activities during the weekend of Nov. 14-16.
Public tours, lectures, celestial and solar viewing and a fundraising dinner and silent auction will be part of the anniversary celebration. Former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman, who has flown five space shuttle missions, is expected to speak at the fundraising dinner.
On Friday, Nov. 14, the observatory will be open for free guided and self-guided tours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. the observatory will be open for stargazing with its 16- and 18-inch telescopes. Also on Friday at 7:30 p.m., Fiske Planetarium will present the live show "Navajo Skies," given by CU-Boulder Professor John Stocke. Admission to the planetarium show is $5 for adults, $4 for students and $3 for children and seniors.
On Saturday, Nov. 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the observatory will be open to the public for family astronomy activities. Visitors will be able to view the sun, weather permitting, with the observatory's heliostat, a specialized solar telescope that transfers the sun's light through a series of mirrors and lenses and projects it on a flat surface for safe viewing. Visitors also will be able to learn how telescopes work and how astronomers take pictures of celestial objects.
At 11 a.m., a special children's presentation will be offered called "Max Goes to the Moon." From 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., the observatory will be open to the public for stargazing.
Also on Saturday, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., the observatory will host a fundraising dinner for CU-Boulder astronomy programs. The evening will include a private tour of the observatory, silent auction of donated astronomical and celestial memorabilia and a keynote speech by former astronaut Hoffman. Cost of the dinner is $100 per person. For more information call (303) 492-5003 or send an email message to julie.carmen@colorado.edu.
On Sunday, Nov. 16, from 1 p.m. to 5 pm. in the observatory, astronomers will present a series of non-technical talks on topics including the creation of virtual universes, black holes, asteroids and astrophotography. Also on Sunday, from 12:30 p.m. to 5:40 p.m., the observatory will show four science and science fiction films from the 1950s. All of Sunday's activities are free.
The Sommers-Bausch Observatory was built in the rural Italian style of the CU-Boulder campus and was dedicated on Aug. 27, 1953. A picture of the newly completed observatory graced the cover of the November 1953 edition of the journal "Sky and Telescope."
The observatory was named in honor of Mayme Sommers and the Bausch and Lomb Co. Sommers gave the university nearly $50,000 in memory of her husband, Elmer E. Sommers, a Denver oilman, while the Bausch and Lomb Co. donated a 10.5-inch refracting telescope.
While the observatory has since added on and modernized its telescopes and other astronomical equipment, the original Bausch telescope is still at CU-Boulder on display in the Fiske Planetarium lobby.
The 10.5-inch diameter primary lens of the telescope is in use as the "heart" of the observatory's heliostat, or solar telescope, according to Keith Gleason, manager of the Sommers-Bausch Observatory.
"The Bausch telescope is still doing what it has done well for the last 50 years," Gleason said. "It's showing students, researchers and visitors close-up and detailed views of our nearest star, the sun."