ASTRONOMY: THE SCIENCE OF THE SKIES

When Dr. Michael Cobb, chairman of the physics department at Southeast Missouri State University, was in the fifth grade, he got a telescope as a Christmas gift.

"I was growing up in the middle of the Space Age," Cobb recalled. "I was very excited to have the telescope."

He took it to his room and focused out the window on a bright star. "I couldn't believe it," Cobb said. "The first star I looked at was a double star! So I looked at another star. It was another double star!"

"It took a while for me to realize that I hadn't found two new double stars. Those were reflections off the window pane," he said.

But Cobb's fascination with astronomy was sealed.

His background has been in government and industrial research in physics and astrophysics. But now he hopes to share the science of the skies with others through teaching.

Starting next month, Cobb will be writing a monthly column in the Southeast Missourian about star watching. He will discuss the stellar highlights to watch for during the month and other tidbits about astronomy and astrophysics.

"I rarely find someone who isn't interested in astronomy at some level," Cobb said.

Gazing at the stars can be mesmerizing. "I think its the concept of infinity," he said. "You are looking out so far and so deep into infinity."

Reflecting on the enormity of the universe also helps individuals gain some perspective. "The stars place a cap on ego," Cobb said. "We are not that great."

In addition, astronomy offers stability and variety for those who study. The moon and the stars are found in predictable patterns and cycles. "And then there is the wild card, like the Comet Hale-Bopp."

Sometimes astronomy is confused with astrology. Astrology is an ancient belief that stars, the moon and sun influence lives on earth.

Astronomy is the science of the stars.

"The ancients thought stars and the skies influenced our lives, and they do to some extent. We have the seasons and the tides," Cobb said.

Students at the university may enroll in an astronomy course called Exploring the Universe. As part of that course, students use telescopes and high-powered binoculars to view the stars.

In the past, students took the telescope on top of the university's science building for star gazing. But as the campus has developed, new lights interfered with viewing.

Student star gazing was moved to Cherokee Park, but Cobb said transporting delicate telescopes wasn't ideal.

This fall, the physics department secured a hilltop at the university's demonstration farm north of Cape Girardeau to build an observatory.

"It's not much to look at," Cobb said. But the buildings provide a permanent home for the equipment and a place away from city lights to view the heavens.

Eventually, three telescopes of different sizes will be operating at the observatory. In addition, students are modifying a satellite dish to function as a radio telescope.

A newly formed Astronomy Club meets once a month at 7 p.m. at Rhodes Hall, room 121. The group is open to the public.

In the future, Cobb said, the club hopes to sponsor public star parties to share the wonder.

"It is pretty amazing," Cobb said. "There is nothing like seeing Saturn for the first time through a telescope."

Look to the skies and here's what you'll see ...

One of the brightest stars can be seen in the east at sundown. This is Sirius, the Dog Star.

Also prominent, just above Sirius, is the big constellation of Orion, the Hunter. Notice the star on Orion's right shoulder. It is one of the few stars with a distinct color -- red. This star is named Beetlejuice, after the movie.