Observatories, clubs allow suburban families to see stars
Right now, Jupiter is in view. And starting this spring, Saturn and Mars will be visible on a clear night.
The suburban sky is filled with interesting astronomical sites which families can see through a telescope in any of the public viewings held across the suburbs, many of which are free.
Every few weeks, a local astronomy club invites families to come see the stars — sometimes for one-time events, and other times, for longer-term programs. The viewings are popular because they're educational activities that families can do together at night.
“Many, many people have never even looked at a telescope before. Even something as simple — and I put ‘simple' in quotation marks — as the moon, you can see so much,” said Joe Kabbes, who runs Harper College's free Cosmic Explorer program for grades 3 and up at the school's Henize Observatory on its Palatine campus.
Kabbes said this introduction to astronomy helps people understand what they're seeing when they look in the sky.
“If you don't know what you're looking at, it gets boring after a while. We explain to people what it is they're seeing and why it's significant,” he said. “A galaxy looks like a smudge of light. Well, that light took 2½ million years to get to your eyeballs and people say, ‘Oh wow!' Or we talk about mythology behind the constellations. We try to keep it rated G because some of those mythology stories are pretty racy.”
To teach children lessons about hot stars, the Cosmic Explorers lets children make bracelets with glow-in-the-dark beads. Kabbes uses a green laser to point to constellations and stars.
“The adults want to see the stuff, too. The adults are sometimes more excited than the kids,” he said.
The Northwest Suburban Astronomers open its monthly meetings to the public, and club members bring their telescopes, large and small, to share with the public.
“They think it's amazing that they can see Jupiter, and watch the moons move, and those sorts of things,” said NSA President Tom Auchter, who said they also bring in speakers and host events at suburban forest preserves and libraries.
Lake County Astronomy Club usually draws between 30 and 40 people for its monthly meetings, held at 8:30 p.m. on the third Friday of the month. The nonprofit group will celebrate its 30th anniversary next month.
Their free, kid-friendly program called “Astronomy Under the City Lights” educates families about the night sky.
“Light pollution, in general, has really limited what you can see. You can see 20 to 30 stars in the sky instead of the 5,000 you should be able to see,” club president Dave Wagner said. “Even with bright skies, with planets and the moon, occasionally a comet will come by ... it can all be seen even in the Chicagoland area, but you need a little bit of help, because the light limits detail.”
Some of the places you can go in the suburbs:
Ÿ Elgin Observatory/Planetarium, 312 Watch St., Elgin. You don't get to look in a telescope, but families are invited inside once a month to watch a sky show on the ceiling and take a tour of the 100-year-old historic building. Call (847) 888-5000, ext. 5312 or go to www.u-46.org/cdps/cditem.cfm?NID=394 for details. The next shows are at 6 and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31. Cost is $3 per person or $10 for families. No preregistration is required, but it is first-come, first-serve for the roughly 50 seats.
ŸHarper College's Henize Observatory, 1200 Algonquin Road, Palatine. Families can look through the observatory's telescopes (and sometimes, other telescopes that people set up) and learn about what they're seeing from the astronomy teachers and volunteers. A spring viewing schedule begins March 17, with the Cosmic Explorers programs for grades 3 and up, and a student docent program for grades 7-12. See HarperAstronomy.org for a full calendar of events.
ŸVolo Bog State Natural Area Visitor Center, 28478 W. Brandenburg Road, Ingleside. The Lake County Astronomy Club meets at 7:30 p.m. on the third Friday of each month, except August and December. Meetings are free and open to the public, and weather permitting, visitors can view the moon, planets and stars through members' telescopes. The club also does “Moon Over ...” programs at local libraries. Their next meeting is their 30th anniversary celebration, Feb. 17. See www.lcas-astronomy.org for a full calendar of events.
Ÿ McHenry County Conservation District's Prairieview Education Center, 2112 Behan Road, Crystal Lake. The Northwest Suburban Astronomers will hold a free, public viewing session from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27. The group also offers free open-to-the-public monthly meetings at the Willow Recreation Center, 3600 Lexington Dr., Hoffman Estates. The next meeting is at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10. A full schedule of events is at www.nsaclub.org.
ŸTriton College's Cernan Earth and Space Center, 2000 Fifth Avenue, River Grove. The programs aren't free ($8 for adults, $4 for children and seniors) but there is a huge variety of shows for all ages every weekend, both outdoors and indoors, in the center's dome theater. Topics include an Orion laser program, Mars 2012, a children's show called “Zip, Zoom, Whiz,” and family shows that investigate popular astronomy myths and misconceptions. For a full schedule, www.triton.edu/cernan. (708) 583-3100.