Wisconsin Life

I'm exploring the Milwaukee Astronomical Society's Observatory. There's a lot to discover here. And I spoke with Observatory Director, Paul Borchardt, about how this group got its start. The society started in 1932 with a small group of amateur astronomers that wanted to pool their resources because it was the Depression and times were hard so they formed the club and they were meeting in a backyard in West Allis, which pretty much was the end of the city in those days. But they wanted farther out in the country. That's how the Milwaukee Astronomical Society ended up here, right off Observatory Drive in New Berlin. About every 30 years, we put up a new dome. To date now, we have nine instruments, including the roll-off roofs that are permanently mounted with telescopes. Members use these telescopes to capture stunning astronomical photographs. That's a lot of what we do out here nowadays is photography. It's a lot of fun. It's nice to look at the stars, but it's, I think, even more exciting to photograph them because you can see deeper into space and the colors come out. We do galaxies, nebulas, which are clouds of gas in space. The planets are real popular. Even the sun and moon get their chance to be photographed. Anyone who is not a member also has the chance to try their hand at space exploration by attending an open house night.