With 130 members and a busy roster of events, the Howard Astronomical League lacks a permanent observatory for stargazers to check up on the latest events in the universe.

That is expected to change between 2009 and 2010 when the league builds an observatory at Alpha Ridge Park, in Marriottsville, said Gary Arthur, the director of the county's Department of Recreation and Parks, which gave the league permission to build on park land.

Arthur credits the league with sparking an interest in stargazing in Howard County.

"We think stargazing and astronomy are great recreational activities," he said.

The planned observatory, which will be open to the public, is expected to be a 20 foot-square wooden building housing a handmade telescope that is 5 feet long and 12 inches in diameter, said Joel Goodman, the league's county liaison.

The league will pay for the construction of the observatory. It is expected to cost $25,000, which will be raised through contributions from league members and the community, Goodman said.

"It's going to be a simple structure," he said.

A $9,000 dome, which will be situated atop the observatory and through which the telescope will peer, has already been purchased by the league, Goodman said.

The league also is required to win approval from the county's Department of Planning and Zoning.

The observatory will be built near the park's parking lot and will be built at the same time the Department of Recreation and Parks adds improvements to the park, including permanent toilets, a walking path around the park's perimeter and increased parking, Arthur said.

Planning for the park's improvements is already under way. Arthur plans to request construction money from the county for fiscal 2010, Arthur said.

Long needed observatory

The Howard Astronomical League was founded in 1999 by members of the Baltimore Astronomical Society who wanted to do more hands-on stargazing. The league has held its meetings at parks department offices since 2001, in exchange for giving free lectures to the public twice a year, Goodman said.

The league regularly watches the night sky at Alpha Ridge Park using portable telescopes, although league members have long felt the need to find a permanent observatory.

The league requested a site on which to build a permanent observatory from the parks department in 2006. Parks officials gave the league 32 county sites to consider, Goodman said.

The league studied the sites, which included open space areas, parks and pools. League members selected Alpha Ridge Park for its convenience and dark skies, and because the surrounding area is not highly developed, Goodman said, adding that several properties in the area are unlikely to be developed as they are part of the county's Agricultural Land Preservation Program.

Telescope donated

The telescope that the league will put in the observatory is a handmade telescope that belonged to Paul Watson, an astronomer and professor at Johns Hopkins University who died in the early 1980s, Goodman said. Watson had used the telescope at his home on Gibson Island.

When Watson died, his family gave the telescope to the Baltimore Astronomical Society. Once the Howard Astronomical League was formed in 1999, part of its charge was to find a home for the telescope to share it with the public, Goodman said.

E-mail Mike Santa Rita at Mike Santa Rita@patuxent.com

November 3, 2007 Star Party Photos

Photos compliments of Eddie Crawford

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