Harper Observatory Offers A Night With The Stars

They came to see Neptune, but the sky got in the way.

“Welcome to the clouds,” said Joe Kabbes, manager of the Karl G. Henize Observatory at , as he gestured to the overcast conditions that obscured even the moon. “I’ve been joking that Chicago is becoming the Seattle of the Midwest.”

Every other Saturday since March, the volunteer team that runs the Henize Observatory has been hosting public viewing nights, allowing local astronomy fans to gaze at stars, planets and other heavenly bodies through the observatory’s 14-inch main telescope.

This past Saturday, Aug. 20, was “Neptune Night.” The eighth planet recently completed its first complete orbit of the sun since being discovered in 1846. On Aug. 20 Neptune was nearing its closest point to Earth and would have been visible as a blue disk in the night sky if layers of thick clouds hadn’t blanketed Palatine.

But even though the main attraction failed to appear, the show went on.

Kabbes and two fellow Harper College astronomy instructors, Kelly Page and Bhasker Moorthy fielded questions about the observatory and astronomy in general. More than 40 people, ranging from middle-school students to adults, filed into the observatory to talk about stars and planets, even if they couldn’t see them.

“As you can tell, it’s popular even when it’s cloudy,” Moorthy said.

Page climbed the ladder into the dome that houses the main telescope. For nearly two hours he described the telescope and its capabilities to a stream of visitors. The stubby-looking instrument is a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope manufactured by the Meade Instruments Corp (Schmidt and Cassegrain refer to the type of mirrors inside the telescope).

The telescope has a computerized controller that can direct it to zoom in on 145,000 stars and other celestial objects. Page explained that feature is important in the suburbs where light pollution can make it difficult for the human eye to focus on a tiny, distant star.

Beneath the dome, in a small room eerily lighted by red rope lights and exit signs, Kabbes showed a pair of grade-school girls how to find constellations on a star wheel. He went on to say how most constellations got their name from Greek mythology. Kabbes then told the girls how the two bear constellations, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, were formed when Zeus hurled Calisto and her son, Arcas, into the heavens after they were transformed into bears.

“Greeks think up a lot of cool stories,” one of the girls remarked.

One girl later asked if space ships would ever be able to travel at warp speed as they do in “Star Trek.” Kabbes answered, “Right now, all of our best physics tells us that you can’t go the speed of light.”

Since becoming manager of the Henize Observatory in spring, Kabbes has sought to bring the public, particularly children, to the small domed building in the northeast corner of Harper’s campus. “I want people to get excited about science,” he said.

He created a student docent program so that students in grades seven through 12 can help the adult volunteers, many of them members of the Harper Astronomy Club, facilitate the public viewing nights.

Twelve-year-old Margot Dick of Barrington is one of the first student docents. “Just the thought of being able to come and work at the dome really fascinated me,” said Margot, who wore a T-shirt with Neil Armstrong’s footprint on the moon and the words “One Small Step.” When the sky is clear, Margot mans one of the smaller telescopes set up on the patio and, she noted with pride, gets to turn out the lights to the adjacent parking lot.

The sky was clear the previous session on Aug. 6, and Margot also spoke about the moon that night. “There was something kind of cool seeing her explain the moon to Harper College students,” Kabbes said. Margot will be a seventh-grader this fall at Barrington Middle School – Station Campus.

Kabbes also plans to establish a group called Cosmic Explorers to involve third- through six-grade students in the observatory. Eleven-year-old Alexandria Kapko of Palatine sparked up as Kabbes started describing the program. Alexandria, who will be in the sixth grade at Hunting Ridge Elementary School this fall, has been coming to events at the observatory for three years.

“She’s an aspiring astronaut/astronomer,” said her father, Bob. “I told her there’s no reason she can’t be both.”

Alexandria said she comes to the public viewings with questions ready. “I like all the information and that you can ask questions and the answers you get are beyond what you ask.” She would soon draw Kabbes into an animated discussion of black holes.

“Mr. Kabbes’ enthusiasm is contagious,” Bob Kapko observed.

For Kabbes, the feeling was mutual. “It’s fun seeing people like you and your daughter get excited about this,” he said.

“Why would this be boring?” Alexandria responded. “Why?”

Smiling broadly, Kabbes gave her a high-five.

Public viewings at the Henize Observatory will resume Sept. 17 with an earlier time, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday night viewings will continue through late November. For a schedule, visit the Harper Astronomy website.

“We’ll still be able to view Neptune in a month,” Kabbes said.

Anyone who would like to become an adult volunteer at the observatory or join the student docent program or the Cosmic Explorers should contact Kabbes at joe.kabbes@HarperAstronomy.org.