Today@Sam Article
Dominey Observatory Dazzles Stargazer
June 21, 2024
SHSU Media Contact: Campbell Atkins
By Jette Morris
Sam Houston State University’s state-of-art Dominey Observatory has been bustling with activity since its opening. It recently hosted a special guest, Kaleb Jordan, and his family. Kaleb is a 15-year-old from Tomball, TX and a hobbyist astrophotographer with over 500 followers on his Facebook page, “Stargazer Kaleb.” In addition to his visit, he donated a metal print of the 2024 total solar eclipse to the observatory.
“Usually when people see pictures of galaxies from NASA, you don’t really think about how that’s actually just out there, floating around space,” Jordan said. “When going to an observatory you can actually see it in real time with the atmosphere wobbling it around. It’s one thing seeing it in a picture, but it’s much more special to see something like this with your own eyes.”
When asked about what he observed at the observatory, he described several different extraterrestrial phenomena, including the Messier Three globular cluster, the Ring Nebula, the Black Eye Galaxy, Whirlpool Galaxy and Sombrero Galaxy.
“My favorite was the Ring Nebula, as it was much brighter than other objects and you could see some detail in it,” Jordan said.
“Once night fell, I noticed just how dark [the] skies there were, I could see thousands of stars,” he said on the outside of the facility. “Because of the low light pollution, each object was easily visible to the eye, and it was amazing. Each object was either a faint glow from a galaxy or a distinctly shaped nebula or a cluster of dim stars. I was also impressed by the fact that unlike any other observatory I’ve been to, this one had a wheelchair lift.”
In addition to seeing the observatory, Kaleb got a unique experience getting to hook up his DSLR camera to the telescope to take some breathtaking photos. He raved about the quality of the telescope and how excited he was to capture the beauty of the cosmos.
“I had the opportunity to work alongside Mike Prokosch, the observatory director. Once we discovered that a DSLR camera could connect to the telescope, we were in awe of all the images that we started to capture,” Jordan said.
Jordan highly recommends the experience to all who have never experienced touring an observatory and is looking forward to his future visits.
“I absolutely want to go back, next time I hope to hook up my camera to the big telescope again. I’m also excited about visiting in the fall and winter when the planets will be visible,” he said.
If you and your family are interested in visiting during one of Dominey Observatory's many public viewings, complete the mailing list sign up form.
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