The year was 1969. As the international community looked on, American astronaut Neil Armstrong placed his left foot on the surface of the moon and said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

On the 40-year anniversary of the first man landing on the moon, Grove City College physics department also set a milestone – albeit not as significant – by adding an astronomy minor to its existing curriculum as a legitimate academic option for physics and engineering students.

“The new astronomy minor is a part of the College’s increased commitment to astronomy education and research,” said Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, associate professor of physics. The minor adds five new courses to the already existing list of physics-related offerings.

Junior John Fite explained that he enjoys the hands-on approach to learning employed by the astronomy professors. “As part of this course [Astronomy 206], we also keep nightly observation notebooks. It is pretty cool to plot the observations of stars or planets moving across the sky as the days pass,” he said. “These observations are the part of the course that I enjoy most.”

Astronomy minor Timothy Rudd agreed with Fite and emphasized the beauty of practical astronomical observations.

“It’s interesting to learn the motion of stars and planets and then to go outside and watch how they change from night to night.”

He continued, “In Astronomy 301 (Observational Astronomy), we are learning about the different coordinates to describe where stars and planets are.”

One of the unique features of the new program is the acquisition and use of a nearby research grade observatory.

Senior Ned Somerville is a teaching assistant for Gonzalez’s astronomy class. “The College owns some pretty great telescope equipment, which is housed out past the IM fields,” Somerville said. “But even
better is the telescope that we have housed way off in the hills, where the light pollution is low and the elevation high enough to avoid the evening mist as it settles in.”

For many people, the thought of analyzing the heavens can be daunting. The scientific jargon and technical analysis can be difficult to decipher. Phrases like “globular cluster,” “binary stars” and “solar nebula” can be a bit disconcerting, to say the least.

Nonetheless, Fite said, “In both courses, Dr. Gonzalez has been very helpful in explaining the material we are studying and the lectures have been clear and straightforward.”

When asked about the benefits of studying astronomy, Somerville said, “It is one of the only sciences where amateurs still make large contributions.”

At the College, students now have the opportunity to take additional steps toward new discoveries.
For astronomy students, the sky is the limit.

- By Jimmy Van Eerden '12

(Based on article published in The Collegian, Sept. 18, 2009)