The sky’s the limit as NIU Davis Hall Observatory reopens in DeKalb after 3-year pandemic hiatus

DeKALB – Jeremy Benson worked in food service to pay his way through his undergraduate degree at Northern Illinois University. He spent about a decade as the campus STEM Camp Director, and Wednesday – as NIU’s physics lab manager – he officially reopened the NIU observatory.

It’s been three years since the Davis Hall Observatory on NIU campus has been open for viewers to enjoy the night skies. The hall was temporarily closed as the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020. This week, Benson led a group of community members during a public “Star Party” to signal the observatory’s return.

“The observatory has kind of been a pet project of mine,” Benson said. “I’ve always loved astronomy and space. I went to space academy when I was in fifth grade. I’ve seen all three of the existing Saturn V rockets that are on display across the states. I remember setting up my first telescope with my dad in the driveway.

“So it has been a pleasure for me to help rehabilitate our observatory and get it reopened.”

Joseph Piet, who just earned a master’s degree in physics from NIU, was last year’s observatory manager. Piet worked with Benson to identify what needed to be refurbished in order for the observatory to reopen this year.

When the observatory was closed, Piet said he spent his time as the observatory’s manager “just kind of figuring out all of the things that were wrong and getting them fixed back up.”

“It’s a great way for our community to get engaged in physics and I’m always about getting anyone who has any interest in physics.”

—  Joseph Piet

“A lot of the rotary sensors and all the electronics in the actual scope that moves it around were not working,” said Piet, 26. “There was a bunch of other things, like updating the computers and all that kind of stuff.”

The reopening began with Benson giving an observatory history lesson. Davis Hall, NIU’s first dedicated science building, opened in 1943 without the observatory. At the height of the space race 23 years later as U.S. astronauts aimed for the moon in a feat that captured international attention and spurred more interest in space science, an observatory dome and telescope were added.

Funds provided by the NIU Foundation and the Physics Department allowed the DeKalb observatory to upgrade to smaller, more compact equipment in 2000. Today, after a few changes were made during the three-year hiatus, the observatory operates with a Televue 60mm Refractor, a Celestron C14 Schmidt-Cassegrain and a Losmandy G-11 Equatorial Mount.

Benson said one of the newer additions to the observation is Sky Safari, a blend of hardware and software that allows the telescope to be controlled wirelessly.

“So I can say, ‘Oh, we want to look at Mars,’ I click on Mars and it brings up a whole bunch of information about Mars,” Benson said. “I can make it sound like I have all this stuff memorized and am a super professional – and then I just push a button and the telescope will go right to Mars, and will continue to follow it until I tell it to go somewhere else. So that makes it easier for us to do tours.”

The star party, which started hours before sunset Wednesday, featured a variety of space-themed snacks, a build-your-own moon lander craft activity, demonstrations of mirrors used in telescopes, and an array of telescopes that were set out for use as the light overhead faded.

Clouds blanketed the sky Wednesday evening, making star gazing an impossible task, but non-telescope activities also were prepared.

Emily Frame, a doctoral student at NIU, hosted space-themed trivia in Faraday Hall. Frame said she doesn’t work with the observatory – she’s a research assistant in accelerator physics – but was happy to help out when the Physics Department asked.

Growing up, science classes were Frame’s favorite, she said. On Wednesday she got to teach children – who were likely getting one of their first tangible lessons on astronomy – about science through trivia.

“I never did anything like this as a kid, and I think it would have been a great opportunity to get me interested from a young age,” Frame said. “Not just being able to learn about it, but to do something hands on. And I feel like this is a very inviting atmosphere, especially for younger kids, to get the opportunity to be able to do something hands on and kind of engage with science in an approachable and easy to understand way.”

Even though clouds covered the sky, scores of people lined the stairs of Davis Hall waiting for an opportunity to climb into the observatory and see the apparatus themselves.

Now that it has reopened, the observatory will be free and accessible to the public from 8 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays, weather permitting.

Piet said it was “awesome” to see dozens of members of the public – including families with young children, students, university faculty and others – eagerly waiting to see the observatory he helped to reopen.

“It’s a great way for our community to get engaged in physics and I’m always about getting anyone who has any interest in physics – whether it’s entry level, or astrophysics or whatever it is – they always should have any opportunity,” Piet said. “And it’s a great tool that is free to the public that they can come in, look at the stars and learn some stuff. It’s great to see a lot of people actually interested in it.”