On North Campus, a dark domed building dating back from the 1880s sits among administration buildings and near student dorms. A reddish glow can be seen from its roof, and on Friday nights, students and local residents can been found inside, stargazing.
This building is the Dearborn Observatory.
On Friday nights the Department of Physics and Astronomy hosts public viewing sessions during which visitors may look through the telescope with the guidance of doctoral students and undergraduate physics and astronomy majors.
According to Jack Hewitt, a Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern, the observatory generally attracts 20 to 40 visitors each week, usually a mix of families and students.
On Friday, the dome had to be closed early due to inclement weather.
Located near Annenberg Hall and the Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Dearborn houses a refracting telescope. The telescope’s 18.5-inch lens bends light inward and focuses on the eyepiece, allowing the viewer a closer look into outer space.
David Ackerman, a Weinberg junior, and Hewitt give visitors a brief history of the telescope, including a couple of stories about the old safe kept in the observatory and its connection with purported UFO sightings in the 1950s by the astronomy department director at the time. According to Hewitt, the former director claimed to have taken photos of UFOs. However, when others looked into the old safe he said he kept them in, the photos were not there.
According to the department’s Web site, Dearborn used to be located where the Technological Institute stands today. To move the 2,500-ton structure, 26 men used jacks to move the observatory 664 feet. The process took three months, and the observatory moved at a top speed of 20 inches per minute.
Originally commissioned to be made by Alvin Clark of Massachusetts for the University of Mississippi, the Dearborn telescope was acquired by the Chicago Astronomical Society and the University of Chicago during the Civil War, after the agreement between Clark and the University of Mississippi was canceled.
In 1887, the telescope was moved to NU. The largest telescope in the world from 1862 to 1868, the Dearborn telescope was used to make scientific contributions such as helping to measure continental drift, discovering Sirius’ white dwarf and hundreds of nebulae and double-stars.
According to Hewitt and Ackerman, if weather conditions are favorable, visitors should be able to view the moon, Jupiter, and Albireo on Friday.
Albireo, a double star, appears blue and yellowish-gold when seen through a telescope.
The Dearborn Observatory is open to the public Fridays from 8-10 p.m., 8-9 p.m. by reservation only and 9-10 p.m. for walk-ins.
For more information, visit astro.northwestern.edu/observatory.php.