On the evening of Monday, March 17, first-year students from Stambaugh, Hank Ingram, West, Sutherland, and Murray houses paid a visit to Dyer Observatory.
Close to 20 students toured the facility with observatory director Dr. Billy Teets to learn of the history of astronomy at Vanderbilt, including that the first observatory, later known as the Barnard Observatory, once stood where Rand Hall now stands. While in the observatory library, students passed around tektites and a few 4.5-billion-year-old meteorites while exploring what they can teach us about our solar system’s history. The night ended with a trip up to Dyer’s Seyfert Telescope. Clouds parted to provide a gorgeous star-filled sky, giving students a chance to check out Jupiter and its large moons, the majestic Orion Nebula, and the remains of a small deceased star known as the Clown Nebula.
Due to Dyer Observatory’s remote location from main campus, we unfortunately do not have nearly as many Vanderbilt students visiting our unique and historic facility as we would like. We strongly encourage student groups who are eager for a visit to contact us if they wish to arrange a trip to our hilltop. In addition, Dyer offers free admission for Vanderbilt students to any of our public events – just reach out to us via a Vanderbilt email address for a promo code!