Mississippi State University’s E.I. Howell Observatory usually gives the Starkville community the resources they need to whisk themselves to a galaxy far, far away, but due to damages sustained during a storm last February, the observatory is closed. Howell served as department head for astronomy and physics for over 30 years. He retired in 1979 and donated money to be used toward improving the observatory.
The observatory is located two miles from the center of campus on the South Farm. Joe Ferguson, a professor of physics at MSU, said he uses the observatory with his classes.
“It was built as a teaching observatory to use with students in astronomy and physical science,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson said the 14-inch telescopes used at the observatory are capable of identifying the rings of Saturn, the moons of Jupiter, galaxies and star clusters.
The observatory is composed of five buildings; one of those is a dome. The other four buildings were destroyed by high velocity winds in a storm last February, but the telescopes inside the buildings were gathered and repaired by the astronomy department.
Due to the damage, the observatory will not be open at all this semester, according to Ferguson.
“We haven’t decided how to fix the damage,” Ferguson said.
“The dome is motor driven; it turns the telescope at the same rate Earth turns, but in the opposite direction,” Ferguson said. “The telescope, in effect, is sitting still while the Earth is turning.”
It is impossible to see the full potential of the night sky with city lights shining nearby. The 30-year-old observatory may be moved due to its proximity to the Rec-Plex, which produces light pollution.
“We are looking into moving to a darker sight,” Ferguson said. “It appears the move won’t occur.”
Move or no move, when the observatory does reopen, it will probably be open to the public one day out of each month.
“We hope in the fall to have it open one day per month, near new moon,” Ferguson said.