The weather is starting to get chilly and was forecasted for rain this weekend, so after my Friday hike, I started looking into things I could do indoors. I booked a ticket to take a tour of the Cincinnati Observatory for Sunday. Only 5$. Reservations in advance due to Covid of course.
I have never been here even though it is literally right around the corner from where I used to drop my kids off every morning for elementary school. Being a tourist in my own city is so fun. Even more fun, I met a guy here and actually went on a first date. (destiny?) Time will tell. 🙂
This is the main building that houses the museum and the newer telescope. When I say newer, it’s still from the 1800s!
The history here was fascinating and the Dr. who gave us the tour (I didn’t catch his name but he was an interesting character) was filled with cool information. Anyone that knows me, knows I get bored with history easily, but his stories made this historical observatory lesson so intriguing. He was also a professor at the University of Cincinnati alongside Neil Armstrong.
This is the building that houses the original telescope. This telescope was originally located in Mt. Adams but due to the industrial pollution, was then moved to this location which at the time was all farmland.
The Cincinnati Observatory was the very first public observatory in the USA! John Quincy Adams came to give a speech for its opening and that is how Mt. Adams got its name. They still hold evening parties that allow the public to view through these old fashion telescopes. I will definitely put it on my bucket list.
Always looking up into nature, had to capture this tree on the property.
This is the original telescope. The lense was imported from Germany.
He showed us how the dome maneuvered and opened up. Also pointed out the gas lamps that used to light the facilities back in the days before electricity. Think about that. This telescope existed and was utilized prior to the invention of electricity.
Outside was a sundial sidewalk.
Painting is the portrait of the man who established this place. He was from Lebanon, Ohio and graduated high school at age 13. Then got into college at West Point on the east coast. He could not afford transportation, so he walked!
In 1842, Cincinnati professor Ormsby MacKnight Mitchel was a dynamic, eloquent speaker and the first American populizer of astronomy – the Carl Sagan of the 1800s. Mitchel began raising money for the telescope and the observatory building.
This is the newer telescope on the second floor of the original building. There were a few ropes hanging along the side and I wondered if anyone hung themselves here. Later, the Dr told us in fact someone had.
I'm just your average gal figuring out her way through the second half of life that decided to follow a calling to Thailand. Now back in the USA due to covid, seeking nature for further direction.
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Tonya Takes Thailand 