Observatory
Welcome
Calvin boasts access to two fully-equipped observatories, one on Calvin's campus and a robotically-operated telescope in Rehoboth, New Mexico. The central mission of the Calvin University Observatory is educational, and the telescopes are used by students at all levels from first year non-science majors to fourth year physics majors.
With our telescopes, we can see fascinating objects in space and capture them in photographs. See a sample of our photos in the adjacent gallery.
Announcements
April 2019: Calvin physics and astronomy student Michaela Blain was awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship. This continues a long record of Calvin astronomy students winning this prestigious scholarship (Chris Beaumont 2006 [honorable mention], Melissa Haegert 2008, Luke Leisman 2009). Additionally two other Calvin physics major have been awarded honorable mention (Jacob Lampen 2013, Jackson Ross 2018).
October Highlights
October will have three bright objects coming into the evening sky.
1) As Venus gains distance from the sun it will become a brilliant evening star low on the western horizon.
2) Slow moving Saturn comes into view in the southeast as the Sun begins to catch up to it. Through the telescope you can see Saturn’s rotationally flattened shape, rings (almost edge on this year), and several moons.
3) And there is a very special guest for the second half of October: comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. On October 14, it will set in the west shortly after the Sun but will be bright enough to see even before the sky is fully dark. Over the following weeks it will move higher in the sky but will gradually diminish in brightness as it moves away from Earth.
