Rant: The old observatory near my town is basically a museum now

I drove out to the old Miller Ridge Observatory last weekend, the one that closed back in 2008. It's just a visitor center now with some displays. I remember going there as a kid with my dad and his telescope club, looking at Saturn through their big 24-inch scope. Now the dome is locked, and the best you can do is look at a framed Hubble print on the wall. It got me thinking about how we used to have to go somewhere dark and look up, and now amazing space pictures are just on our phones. Has anyone else visited an old star-gazing spot that's changed like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

patricia_king231mo ago

Remember those old star charts you had to fold out? Mine always ripped at the creases.

hernandez.jordan1mo ago

Ever think those old charts were just annoying? I used to hate them until I tried using one during a power outage, and it actually WORKED. Kinda miss that simple connection now.

wren30722d ago

Oh man, the FOLDING. I'm pretty sure I had a star chart from 1998 that was held together by tape and good intentions. Every time I unfolded it, I'd hold my breath like I was defusing a bomb. And you KNOW I always managed to rip it right along the constellation lines I was trying to find. My astronomy hobby turned into a paper repair side hustle. Eventually I just drew my own charts on notebook paper, which looked like a kindergartner's interpretation of the night sky. So yeah, I HATED them too, but turns out even my terrible scribbles were better than staring at my phone's dead battery.