CMC Sky Club
Welcome to Sky Club - we're a student organization at Colorado Mountain College in Steamboat Springs, CO. In addition to helping students explore the science of Astronomy in theory and in practice, we organize campus and public events that help everyone - students, faculty, staff and all interested community members - to learn about the wonders and mysteries of the universe and to explore our beautiful Colorado night sky in all its majesty.
Feel free to explore our calendar of events and other information about the projects and activities of Sky Club.
For more information contact Sky Club Faculty Advisor Paul McCudden at 970-870-4537 or cmc.skyclub.steamboat@gmail.com
The Ball Observatory in Steamboat Springs
The Ball Observatory on campus here at CMC Steamboat Springs is the generous gift of former Steamboat Springs resident Dr Robert Ball and his wife Ann. The 10 ft Pro-Dome observatory dome houses an 11" f/10 Celestron Edge HD Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector with a piggy-backed Explore Scientific f/6 ED80 APO refractor, both on a Paramount ME mount, run by The Sky X Pro. We have a large collection of eyepieces, cameras, filters and auxiliary software, including:
- Mallincam DS10C camera for EAA (Electronically Assisted Astronomy ) and live virtual and in-person star parties
- SBIG ST10XE (with filter wheel) and STF 8300M (with FW5-8300 filter wheel and off-axis guider)
- Starizona Hyperstar 11 v4 Prime focus lens
- RSpec Star Analyzer SA-100 grating for low-resolution spectroscopy
- Coronado SolarMax III 90 H-alpha solar telescope
And a large collection of portable telescopes for outreach and remote star parties.
Join us for any of our events to make use of and learn about our facility and equipment!
Astronomy Papers written by CMC students
CMC students and Sky Club members have been working on independent research projects resulting in published papers. Here are some:
- Speckle Astrometry of WDS 03344+2428
- Automated Speckle Interferometry of Known Binaries
- Astrometry of WDS 21055+6210
- Astrometric Observations of 09092+1514
If you're interested in learning more about these research projects, or participating, please email cmc.skyclub.steamboat@gmail.com
Upcoming Events
The Ball Observatory as seen by our pinhole camera. The yellow streaks at the top are the Sun's path through the sky every day for two weeks. The gaps in the streaks show where clouds covered the Sun.
Watch the video of a talk sponsored by Sky Club about the James Webb Space Telescope.
Images taken from the Ball Observatory
Ball Observatory Sky Cam
Watch videos from our Skycam, which takes time lapse, fisheye videos of the sky every night.
