Hundreds of Chicoans attended the Chico Community Observatory’s Star Wars Cosplay Event last Friday, Sept. 27. The Grand Reopening Event commemorated the transfer of the observatory’s lease from a private nonprofit organization to Chico Area Recreation District.
Adjacent to Horseshoe Lake, CARD representatives passed out cupcakes, sunglasses and toys to visitors, who brought their own telescopes, binoculars and night-vision goggles to enhance their experience.
The facility features two high-powered telescopes that are used to directly observe distant stars, planets, nebulae and other astronomical phenomena. The Outdoor Planetarium, where Dave White teaches the Chico community about astronomy.
In recent years the observatory has suffered the theft of its solar panels, as well as storms ripping open the slider roof, causing rain to hit the telescopes. The damage has been repaired.
White, who has volunteered at the Observatory for many years, led comprehensive star tours bimonthly for the facility. His tours are rich with history and in-depth knowledge of astronomy.
“Horseshoe Lake is one of the best places in Butte County to go birding [thanks to] the lake, the creek-riparian zone and the upland,” White said. “You get all the birds from all those habitats. Just walking around the lake, you can see 35 species! I think that kind of thing is what [CARD] is looking for.”
The Chico Observatory is a great opportunity to see the planets and stars first hand.
“Because the nonprofit status lapsed a few years ago, they had to close their doors,” Holli Drobni, the administrative director for CARD, said “It’s part of CARD expanding our nature program offerings,” Drobni said. “CARD already oversees The Nature Center. We’re looking at building a bike park in the next couple years. Having the Observatory, Nature Center and bike park is going to fall under the umbrella of a new supervisor we [plan to] hire in the near future. This aligns with our mission to bring educational opportunities to the community at an affordable cost.”
The real experts are the docent volunteers who still lead weekly nighttime events, Drobni said.
CARD also offers full moon and new moon night hikes in Upper Bidwell Park, which Drobi explained are “very affordable.”
The City of Chico released an observatory video of the event.
This attraction has had its fair share of obstacles. Drobni confirmed that unknown suspects stole three of the six solar panels in 2009. Thanks to anonymous donors, the panels were fixed and replaced allowing them to reopen quickly.
Placerville Observatory recently built an identical facility using the Chico Observatory as their template, White said.
The CARD Chico Community Observatory is a family friendly venue and also a great option for date night. One might even see the Draconid Meteor Shower, which will be visible from Oct. 7-8
C.N.Kepler can be reached at [email protected].
