MONMOUTH, ILLLINOIS (10/29/2019) —
Public invited to Monmouth College observatory night November 2
Weather permitting, Monmouth College will offer the public an opportunity to look 2.5 million light years into space on November 2. The College will host an open observatory night from 7-9PM at the Center for the Science and Business. The event will feature activities outside, inside and on top of the building, which houses the Adolphson Observatory and the 20-inch Trubeck Telescope. "We'll have telescopes at the front of the building — the Broadway side — and activities inside on the second floor, and we'll be taking folks up to the rooftop observatory," said physics professor Mike Solontoi. The event, which is free, is suitable and suggested for all ages, although the Adolphson Observatory is only accessible via a flight of stairs. "We plan on observing the Moon, Jupiter, and Saturn," said Solontoi. "We may also take a look at the Ring Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, and/or a nice star-cluster if the night has nice clear air." Solontoi said that the Trubeck Telescope allows Monmouth students to see much farther into space than was previously possible. "We routinely look at the Whirlpool Galaxy, about 23 million light-years away from Earth, and we can still see structure in it through just an eye-piece," he said. "With a dark-enough night, or using a camera, we can easily see objects that are tens to hundreds of times further away." Inside the Center for the Science and Business, activities will include a space where children can make their own constellations and a demonstration of making a model comet out of dry ice.
Monmouth College students holding Trick-or-Treat on 7th Street on Halloween
Area children have the chance to load up on candy this Halloween and also meet several dozen Fighting Scots, thanks to students in the Monmouth College Department of Athletics. From 7-8PM on October 31, members of Monmouth's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will host the group's fourth annual Trick-or-Treat on 7th Street in front of the College's Huff Athletic Center. All area children and their family members are invited to attend the event. All candy that will be distributed will be pre-packaged, individually wrapped and nut-free. "The event has been successful for the past couple of years and our student-athletes really enjoy getting to meet and interact with our community kids," said Fighting Scots women's lacrosse coach Elizabeth Demara, who helps advise SAAC. Demara said Trick-or-Treat on 7th Street was created to help "connect our student-athletes with the local community." "We see a lot of local kids and families in the stands at our home contests, but our student-athletes don't always have a chance to interact with them on game days," she said. "Trick-Or-Treat on 7th Street is a way to bridge that gap between our local families and student-athletes by providing them with a fun way to interact." Demara said interactions between the College's student-athletes and the trick-or-treaters "are often short, a brief conversation about their costume, their favorite candy, how many pieces of candy they've scored or simply exchanging high fives, but it's a way to give back to some of our youngest fans." She said the Trick-Or-Treat on 7th Street has become increasingly popular with the community. "The first year we hosted it, we actually ran out of candy in the first 20 minutes, so we sent one of the coaches to the store to get more candy for us," she said. "Overall it's been a very positive event, and our student-athletes look forward to it every year." SAAC representatives responsible for organizing this year's event are swimmer Miranda Pasky ('21) of Paso Robles, California, water polo players Kyle Jones ('22) of Parkland, Florida, and Emily Mathews ('20) of Flossmoor, Illinois, and track-and-field athlete Clay Schulenberg ('21) of Orion, Illinois.
