Astronomer Rod DeVries is pictured in his private observatory in Dunmore.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Located in Dunmore, the Eagle Butte Observatory is looking to introduce curious individuals to the details of the cosmos.
Astronomer and owner Rod DeVries has been teaching astronomy for 30 years in various settings and levels, including working with the Medicine Hat College’s continuing studies program a few years ago, and weekly at Elkwater Learning Centre.
However, to be able to host students in his own private observatory as a classroom setting has long since been a dream of his, one he’s excited to have come to fruition.
“When I first had my website done up, I had a couple different ideas for classes,” said DeVries. He detailed various programs in which an interested individual would be able to partner with him to begin an observation program, such as taking in the finer details of the moon, or beginning the Messier Catalogue, something DeVries added most astronomers believe is a must.
“Charles Messier was a fellow in the 1700s, and his job, what he made money at, was finding comets and then naming them,” said DeVries. He explained that over the course of his lifetime, Messier would keep a logbook of celestial objects that weren’t comets, to prevent him wasting his time looking at them again.
However, as people became more interested in the skies, he began adding various other objects such as star clusters, and now astronomers around the world challenge themselves to find the 110 objects as part of their journey.
“What I’m hoping for with these observing programs is that they come and we kind of partner up, you know, for a six-month period of time, and I get them interested in the sky and start looking for, say, the Messier Objects and I let them do it,” said DeVries. “Then I can confirm that they actually found the objects, and by the time our time together is over, hopefully they’ll be far enough along they can kind of go from there.”
The program DeVries is most excited for however, is his Exploring the Universe, Introduction to Astronomy course. The program, which will run over the course of eight sessions starting Oct. 1, will start at the very beginning of students’ astronomy journey and get them acquainted with the night sky.
“To get to do this in my facility, as actual class sessions, is a first for me here, since we only built this space eight years ago,” said DeVries. He explained that the first night will be an introduction to the night sky itself, followed by a session on navigating the different components that make up space on a clear night with good visibility.
“A lot of people when they see the Milky Way, they take it in, and it’s awe-inspiring, but they take it in as a single unit,” said DeVries. “When I say we’re going to navigate through the night sky, we’re going to look at this beautiful thing and then take some time to learn how to navigate, starting at the big dipper and making our way from there to Polaris and onward.”
The course will allow for hands-on work with telescopes, as well as for students to be able to make their first attempts at astrophotography in the final two classes.
“It’s really just a short time together, but it’s an introduction to the sky,” said DeVries. He explained that this is not the first time he’s considered hosting this course, but this time he’s fortunate to have already gotten some interest, having nine students enrolled when his observatory can comfortably hold 15-20.
For this reason, he encourages those interested to visit his website, eaglebutteobservatory.ca for information and to book their seats as soon as possible.
“The only thing they really need to bring is curiosity,” said DeVries. “A notebook would help, this is a class, but they bring their curiosity, and I’ll bring the universe.”
