More than 1,000 Baton Rouge residents and students searched the skies Saturday and marveled at the wonders of the cosmos as Baton Rouge celebrated the 37th annual International Astronomy Day.
The Highland Road Park Observatory, funded and used by the University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy for education and research, hosted free events including telescope viewing, scientific experiments and demonstrations for the general public.
The Irene W. Pennington Planetarium downtown hosted a similar program with telescope viewing, planetarium shows, astronomy movies and interactive activities.
Astronomy Day was started in 1973 by Doug Berger, then president of the Astronomical Association of Northern California who set up telescopes in busy urban locations like street corners, shopping malls and parks to encourage people to take interest in astronomy, according to the Astronomical League Web site.
The international event generally takes place between April and May on the Saturday closest to the first quarter moon. This year also marked the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s discovery of Jupiter’s moons as well as the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Highland Observatory set up 20-inch and 16-inch telescopes to allow visitors to view the planets, the moon and sun. Viewers were able to see solar flares and spots and other features on the sun’s surface using a special filter in the telescope to screen the harmful solar radiation.
“Science can be applied from your backyard,” said Jon Elvert, Pennington Planetarium director. “You don’t need to research or have a degree for it.”
The Pennington auditorium featured special one-hour movies such as “The Pluto Files,” which documented the former planet’s history, “Eyes on the Skies” showing locations of astronomical objects and “400 Years of the Telescope.”
“I think it’s really well put together,” said Aaron Reed, Baton Rouge resident. “Aside from all the planets, the solar system is really beautiful. Anyone would love it and enjoy the pictures.”
Highland also featured various demonstrations like the approach of a comet, by Craig Brenden, HRPO’s education curator, the soothing effects of sound by harpist Ashley Toman and a robot built by the members of Louisiana’s Panthrobotics Team 3337, who will compete nationally in the US FIRST Robotics Competition.
“College isn’t all about study — it’s also about fun,” said Dana Browne, associate chair and physics professor, who was involved with a radio communication experiment at Highland. “Mixing a little fun is not a bad thing.”
The observatory is not affected by University budget cuts because it isn’t entirely owned by the University, but Browne said scientific research, especially at the University, should not be affected.
“We need to realize that such researches in astronomy are wise investments for the future, not to be cut or ignored,” he said.
Nicole Dickerman, University geology junior, volunteered at the Highland event and works at the observatory during weekends. She said the event will get students interested in the observatory.
“It will be a great introduction to the observatory,” Dickerman said. “People will love the amazing telescopic view.”
Contact Sumit Kumar at [email protected]