Adirondack Public Observatory gets APA draft permit

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TO LEARN MORE

Visit the Adirondack Public Observatory's website at apobservatory.org.

Or email directors and program educators at info@apobservatory.org

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Students learn methods of observing sunspots in a recent afterschool program organized by astronomy educator and Tupper Lake science teacher Gordie Duval. P-R Photo / Courtesy Adirondack Pu

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October 10, 2011

KIM SMITH DEDAM Press-Republican The Press Republican Mon Oct 10, 2011, 06:13 AM EDT

TUPPER LAKE — The Adirondack Public Observatory is nearing construction.

It has been nearly eight years since the organization gained status as a non-profit organization dedicated to star-gazing and public education.

The group, spearheaded by a Board of Directors that includes businesspeople, scientists, amateur astronomers and teachers, received a draft permit from the Adirondack Park Agency for building the observatory structure on Little Wolf Road.

It will go up in several phases.

ROLL-OFF ROOF

Keith Wells, the organization's president, said they recently received the draft permit.

"We're also in front of the Tupper Lake Planning Board. We have provided them with drawings and have had a project review meeting. We expect a public hearing to be held at their meeting later this month.

"We also have some work to do with the Zoning Board of Appeals."

Phase 1 of the project includes building a telescope building with a roll-off roof design, a kind of garage-door-type moveable opening for night-sky viewing.

"The roll-off roof design is what is going before the planning boards. This type of structure permits viewing of the night sky to about a 20-degree elevation off the horizon," Wells said.

SPRING START EYED

Project plans moved smoothly through APA, Wells said.

"The APA has already reviewed the design, and we had no comments coming back. We were told we were very thorough in our proposal. It's all going forward.

"We expect to break ground next spring, after the thaw, and we hope to open for business after black-fly season."

The Phase 1 structure is not heated, he said.

But an adjoining control room will be warmed to house computers that will store data and images and provide heated space for wintertime sky gazers.

"It's a great Phase 1," Wells said, adding that the board and its galaxy of amateur and pro astronomers are very excited.

"This has been a project a long time coming."

SITE NEAR BEACH

The group purchased the 3.9-acre Adirondack Public Observatory property on Little Wolf Road several years ago, a site across the road from the Town of Tupper Lake's beach.

Despite the lack of formal observatory space, the project has continued to share educational star-gazing sessions in public forums, several held at the Wild Center, during the past seven years.

NOTABLE TELESCOPE

In 2006, the observatory was given the Everest Reflecting Telescope by family of famed inventor A.W. Everest.

Students at Clarkson University, with help from observatory founder Marc Staves, restored the historic mirror optics and unique housing.

Work on the telescope was completed in 2007.

NEW KIDS PROGRAM

As the school year got under way, Observatory scientists launched a seven-week afterschool program for students in grades 4, 5 and 6, Wells said.

The interactive program takes place at observatory offices at 95 Park St. and is focused on the solar system.

Wells said the first session enrolled 15 children.

The sessions are from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday through Nov. 16 and are free to the public, though a $5 donation is encouraged to cover materials.

"Each week, the students will view a brief video of the day's topic and then participate in hands-on activities; making a sun dial, learning how craters are formed, seeing how the phases of the moon occur are just some of the activities planned," Wells said.

"It is our intent here at the APO to increase the enjoyment of the science of astronomy," Gordie Duval, chairman of the observatory's Education Committee, said in announcing the new afterschool series.

Duval is also a science teacher in the Tupper Lake School District.

"This program will engage the children in activities that are fun and entertaining, as well as educational."

NIGHTSKY NETWORK

Last July, the observatory earned official membership in the NASA Night Sky Network, a national coalition of amateur astronomy clubs dedicated to "the science, technology and inspiration of astronomy" that helps deliver NASA's missions to the general public.

The Night Sky Network is supported, in part, by NASA.

Funding for Tupper observatory projects is driven largely by educational grants and private contributions, which by April 2010 had garnered nearly $165,000 since 2005, according to tax data on the group's website.

Email Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com