My first Magazine Sky & Telescope - 03.2019 | Página 67

u RESEARCH READY Top: Muddy Run Observatory plans to offer time
to researchers, both amateurs and professionals, on a modifi ed Dall-
Kirkham scope. The observatory’s science operations team is currently
working on scheduling and protocol systems, and will soon be accepting
research proposals from astronomers. Bottom: Ted Williams, president of
the Rittenhouse Astronomical Society, checks out Muddy Run’s 14-inch
Schmidt-Cassegrain. The scope is equipped with a video camera that
allows captured images to be projected onto a large outdoor screen.
phia, as well as the 2010 recipient of the Ryan family’s astron-
omy scholarship, Coralie Jackman (now Coralie Adam). At the
time, Jackman was working on the navigation team for NASA’s
New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. “This was
three short months after the Pluto encounter, so I got to show
some great images and talk about my role as a navigator on the
mission,” she says.
“Ms. Jackman was a real-life example not only of what we
can do in science, but what young women can do given the
resources and encouragement a STEM agenda can provide,”
says Ryan.
Even though thunderstorms passed through the area,
the stargazing session turned out 100 to 125 people, which
impressed company management. The success of this initial
event on a cloudy night convinced Exelon’s top brass that
Muddy Run was indeed the right place for their astronomical
tq BREAKING GROUND Left: Construction at Muddy Run began in April 2016. It took four months to regrade a slope for the amphitheater, pour the
concrete pad for the observatory, install a large outdoor screen, and fi nish the landscaping. Below: Ash-Dome visited the site in July 2017 to install
the observatory’s two domes, moving the construction project almost to completion.
sk yandtele scope.com • M A RCH 2 019
65