Observatory Puts a Gleam in Moorpark Stargazers’ Eyes

When the Ventura County Astronomical Society’s 136 amateur stargazers donated an aging metal dome to Moorpark College three years ago, they hoped it would prompt the college to build the county’s first public observatory.

Problem was, the dome was warped beyond repair.

But it did lead to construction of the observatory, and at its dedication Thursday college President Ray Hearon called it a “wonderful addition.”

The small building, topped with a brand new dome, is no Mount Palomar, not even a match for the observatory at Griffith Park. But, for astronomy students at the community college and the area’s other astronomy buffs, the Charles Temple Observatory will provide a clear view of planets, comets and other astronomical wonders.

“This facility will give us a spectacular view of space,” said Floyd Martin, director of mathematics and science at the college, as he and 70 other students, faculty members and astronomy lovers dedicated the $100,000 structure.

The small stucco and cinder-block building, perched on a wind-swept knoll, was conceived from the top down--starting with the donated dome, said Gerry Spencer, who directed fund raising for the Moorpark College Foundation.

Donated Dome

The dome proffered by the astronomical society had been given to that group by its Santa Barbara counterpart. Such domes have a vertical slit that is rotated to expose a particular spot in the sky while shielding extraneous light.

The school was more than a year into fund raising for the observatory when it discovered that the donated dome was unusable.

Foundation members decided to proceed with the project, Spencer said. A $13,000 donation paid for a new dome. A big part of the money came from the observatory’s namesake, a Westlake Village man who donated $15,000, and his longtime employer, IBM Corp., which donated $30,000.

Temple, who was honored at the ceremony, said he decided to donate the money after taking an astronomy class at Moorpark.

Other donations included four telescopes, said Martin. One of them, a powerful device with lenses the size of dinner plates, will be affixed beneath the dome next month. The others are portable and will be deployed outside the building.

The north wall will be used as a projection screen in nighttime programs for the college’s 900 astronomy students, classes from other schools and community groups. Visitors will sit in an outdoor amphitheater, named for Richard Carlsberg, a Santa Monica builder who donated $35,000 to the project.

“There are still some glitches to be worked out,” Martin said. The observatory was placed on the east side of the campus, as far from the glow of Moorpark and Simi Valley as the school’s boundaries would allow. Even so, the observatory has a problem with light from nearby parking lots. In a recent test, when a switch was thrown to darken a nearby parking lot, the entire campus was blacked out, Martin said.

After the dedication, the aluminum dome, glinting in the sunlight that poured down from 93 million miles away, was given a ceremonial spin.

The only regret registered by the astronomy faculty was that Moorpark is not in the Southern Hemisphere. That is where a collapsing star, or supernova, discovered in February is putting on the most spectacular cosmic show of the century. “Everything good happens down there,” said astronomy instructor Howard Jandorf. “But we’ll get our chance.”