Shaye Phillips, Features Editor–
The waning crescent moon illuminates the brick sidewalks as students and various guests hurry towards the small circular tower across from Hoaglin Wellness Center. Nighttime at Denison is usually calm, but on this night, there’s a certain buzz of excitement in the air from those who anticipated viewing what lies beyond our world.
On Oct. 10, Swasey Observatory hosted an open house on campus for faculty, students, and the broader community of Granville. It was a collaborative effort between the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and the Spiritual Life Center. Physics professor Steven Olmschenk helped host the event.
Because Olmschenk was busy helping guests during the event, he opted to answer questions through email.
“We wanted to engage the community in the science of astronomy, as well as provide information about the moon and other aspects of astronomy related to religions throughout history,” said Olmschenk.
According to Olmschenk, the physics department tries to offer open house events at the observatory every semester. However, the weather plays a big role in deciding what nights to host it on.
“If it’s cloudy or rainy, we can’t view anything through the telescopes,” said Olmshenk.
During the open house, the observatory was filled with guests. The stairs leading up the main telescope were packed, with bodies squishing against the railing to avoid collision.
“We had a great turnout and the weather was beautiful,” Olmschenk said.
People viewed Saturn through the observatory’s 9-inch refracting telescope, given to the university by the Warner and Swasey Company, a machine and tool manufacturing company co-founded by Ambrose Swasey.
“A refracting telescope uses lenses to collect, focus, and collimate the light from distant objects… the larger the objective, the more light you can collect, allowing you to see dimmer objects from far away,” Olmshenk said.
Several guests attempted to take photos of the planet through the telescope’s lens, but it proved to be too difficult. Senior and co-president of SPS, Junaid Irman, admitted he had never been able to take a good picture through the telescope.
Guests also viewed the double star Albiereo, a pair of one gold and one blue star. Physics major Henry Kline ‘25 explained that the golden star was only 4,000 kelvins and the blue star was 13,000 kelvins, which determines the difference in color between the stars.
“They’re both there but the blue one is definitely easier to see,” Kline said.
There was also a third new Celestron telescope, set out on the ground outside the observatory where students and guests walking by could view the moon as it shone brilliantly in the black of night. Some students found the event educational as well as inspiring.
“I thought it was super cool,” said Alix Sanden ‘27. “I’ve never been able to look through a telescope powerful enough to actually see a planet or particular astronomical body, so being able to actually make out Saturn’s shape and its rings was a little mind-boggling.”
It wasn’t only Denison students who enjoyed the event. Several older residents of the community also came up to campus to view the intergalactic phenomena and learn about the solar system.
“It is always exciting to engage the campus and broader community in astronomy, and we were thrilled that so many people came out for the event. I believe astronomy is something we can all connect with, at any age,” said Olmshenk.
Photo: A student looks at Saturn through a telescope during the observatory open house on Oct. 10. Andrew Laramore / The Denisonian