Goodsell Observatory
Alvin talks about his first experience at Goodsell Observatory.
Alvin talks about his first experience at Goodsell Observatory.
As you may know, I’m taking an introductory astronomy course this term, to fulfill my lab requirement for graduation. Although science courses have never been the most appealing to me, I was excited to start learning astronomy and attend the lab sessions at night. I had my first lab this week and it was incredible. While I didn’t get to observe any stars, I learned a lot about the observatory and thought I would dedicate my blog this week to talk a bit about the observatory and what labs will be like.
For those of you who don’t know, Goodsell Observatory is our observatory on campus, and we are very lucky to have such a wonderful resource at Carleton. Although going upstairs to use the telescope is not available at all times, students still have many opportunities to observe: there is a 6-credit introductory astronomy course with a lab component, a 3-credit course which is purely a lab component, as well as open viewing sessions to the public, which is the first Friday of every month.
The viewing area is upstairs, and downstairs there is a gallery with pictures taken from Goodsell, samples of rocks from space, and exhibits demonstrating the history of Goodsell and astronomy at Carleton. I would highly recommend checking it out!
While I didn’t get to do any actual observing during my first lab, it was definitely eye-opening and I can’t wait for the next lab. Hopefully later in the term I can give a better picture of what an astronomy lab is like at Carleton and show what I learned!
Alvin is a west coast kid at heart (coming from San Jose, California), but is loving his time in Minnesota. He plays for the soccer team here at Carleton and loves exercise. If he’s not on the soccer field, in the gym, or out on a bike ride during his free time, he can be found in one of the lounges playing Exploding Kittens, or in the music building playing piano. He is a Computer Science major with an interest in Economics and Statistics. Meet the other bloggers!