Eyes on the stars
Opening of Iverson Observatory at Green Castle celebrated Friday
T-R PHOTOS BY LANA BRADSTREAM James Bonser with the Amateur Astronomers of Central Iowa explains how the Iverson Observatory telescope finds specific aspects of the sky. The roof of the observatory rolls back to provide a complete view.
Bev Iverson speaks about her husband Ross leaving a legacy of the Iverson Observatory at Green Castle Recreation Area. The grand opening was held on Friday.
T-R PHOTOS BY LANA BRADSTREAM James Bonser with the Amateur Astronomers of Central Iowa explains how the Iverson Observatory telescope finds specific aspects of the sky. The roof of the observatory rolls back to provide a complete view.
Bev Iverson speaks about her husband Ross leaving a legacy of the Iverson Observatory at Green Castle Recreation Area. The grand opening was held on Friday.
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GILMAN – Fans of astronomy or the night sky now have a better chance of closer looks at the Iverson Observatory at the Green Castle Recreation Area.
Marshall County Conservation and Amateur Astronomers of Central Iowa held the grand opening Friday night, after more than two years of fundraising for the facility. However, the dreary weather and cloudy skies caused part of the event to be moved to the Gander Lookout Shelter in the park. After a brief educational session on astronomy and a speech from Beverly Iverson, whom the observatory is named after along with her husband Ross, almost 20 people were invited to go to the new facility to see it in person.
"Ross was a very special person and was always positive, always optimistic and he didn't have a really easy start in education," she said. "They started him in first grade when he was 4 years old, and until he was 12 he couldn't say his own name because he couldn't enunciate the 'Rs'. He was dyslexic. He went out to the corn field and cried instead of going to school. His mom had to tutor him during summer so he could go to the next grade."
Only after Ross turned 30 years old, earned his doctorate and had two children did his mother tell him he was going to "make it," which drew laughter.
"What I really loved about Ross is he was really always willing to risk, and was pretty successful most of the time," Iverson said. "He was the person who designed and supervised the building of the suspension bridge out at Three Bridges Park. He was [also] very generous with his resources and his time."
Ross' passions were his family, education, conservation, preserving natural resources and the homeless. Iverson said by the time Ross went to the hospice, he chose two projects as his legacy. The first was establishing a homeless shelter in Marshalltown, which is "in the works" and the other was the Iverson Observatory.
"What I am passionate about [with this] observatory is that I really hope young people are inspired by it and go into the sciences," Iveron said. ". . . . We really want kids to get excited about science, really want kids involved."
Inside the observatory, a Celestron telescope sitting on a secure mount waited beside a connected computer so people could see specific requested points of the night sky. Since the clouds were so heavy, Amateur Astronomer member James Bonser explained that the viewing options were limited. He gave a brief demonstration of how the telescope worked after the roof was unlocked and rolled away, opening the sky to attendees.
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.