Hopkins Observatory Announces Fall Schedule
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College invites area residents to experience the wonders of the universe at the Milham Planetarium, located inside the Old Hopkins Observatory .Astronomy students at the college will host free shows for the public on the following Friday evenings at 7:30: Sept. 16, 23, 30; Oct. 14, 21, 28; Nov. 4, 11, 18; and Dec. 2, 9. Audiences will be treated to 50-minute shows from the high-precision Zeiss Skymaster ZKP3/B opto-mechanical planetarium projector, installed in April 2005.
The Zeiss Skymaster is capable of demonstrating phenomena including retrograde motions of the planets, phases of the moon, the varying temperatures/colors of stars, locations of neighboring galaxies, the mythological figures and zodiacal signs ascribed to constellations, the Southern Hemisphere's sky, comets, artificial satellites, and much more.
Fall shows will be hosted by Pushpanjali Giri, Matthew Hosek, Soraya Membreno and Muzhou Lu. Jay Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy, is director of the Hopkins Observatory.
The observatory, built in 1836-1838 by the first professor of astronomy at Williams, Albert Hopkins, is the oldest extant observatory in the United States.
For reservations (recommended) contact Michele Rech at 413-597-2188 or at mcr4@williams.edu. Others will be admitted as space permits. Large groups should call for special appointments.
The Hopkins Observatory is at 829 Main St. on a small hill on the north side of Main Street east of Spring Street, and just east of Lawrence Hall Drive, on which planetarium patrons share parking with the Williams College Museum of Art. A campus map showing the Hopkins Observatory's location can be found at www.williams.edu/map.
