By Darlene Brace
Did you know that there is an observatory near Ellicottville and Jamestown? Well, the Martz-Kohl Observatory is close by in Frewsburg, New York. It was first built in the 1950s by Marshall Martz. Marshall Martz was originally from Jamestown and later moved to the Frewsburg area, and he was an astronomy teacher at Jamestown Community College. Being that Frewsburg is the second highest point in Chautauqua County, and that it’s out of the city lights of Jamestown, he thought it was a good location for the observatory. He had the building built and he also built the dome and the first telescope. In the 1980’s, the observatory was opened to the public. Since then, it has been a venue for public education, inspiration, and enjoyment of astronomy and it encourages teaching in the sciences of astronomy and physics. It is open to the public for lectures, star gazing, and school field trips. It currently has open observation nights for the public to come in on Wednesdays 7:30pm-9:30pm.
The observatory has large domes that house the two large telescopes. One of them is a 24-inch Martz Telescope that was made by Marshall Martz and the other one is a 20-inch Kohl Telescope that was donated by Ronald Kohl. They also have a roll off roof sections that has 10 to 15 other telescopes that can be used by the public.
Locally, a lot of people don’t know about the observatory and its importance, but this Observatory well known across the country and internationally among the astronomical community The observatory has informative lectures every 3rd Wednesday by astronomy specialists. On Wednesday March 20, Nobel Prize winner Dr. John Mather gave an interesting lecture on how the Webb telescope was built and how they hope to use it. Currently, they have had lectures by Tom Traub who lives in Warren PA, and he is an experienced amateur astronomer and a NASA Eclipse Ambassador. He recently presented a lecture on March 23 at the observatory about the total eclipse that will be taking place in our area on April 8th. He will be having another day of lectures about the eclipse on April 6 at 1pm and 7pm. Although the observatory is a great place to learn about the eclipse beforehand, the observatory will not be open to the general public on April 8, and may only be open to observatory members.
If you are really into astronomy, you can become an observatory member. As an observatory member, you get free training on how to use the telescopes and are allowed to take home telescopes for a period of time. Members also get information sent to them in newsletters and you can attend lectures and events for free as well as some other perks.
If you are interested in taking a telescope home and you are not an observatory member, there are local libraries that have a telescope program. The telescopes at these libraries are provided by the Martz-Kohl Observatory, and you can check out telescopes to take home just like you check out library books. Some of the libraries in the area that have the telescope program, would be the Frewsburg Library, the Kennedy Library, and the Randolph Library to name a few.
For the younger astronomy enthusiasts, this summer they will be offering their second annual Space STEM Camp Experience 2024. This will be a day camp and is for students entering grades seven through nine. This will be held the week of July 15th through the 19th. At this camp, students will learn about the history of space exploration and observation. They will learn howe to use the 24-inch telescope at the observatory, and they will build, launch, and take home their own model rockets. They will have a chance to visit the Falconer School Planetarium and the Challenger Center in Olean. There will be guest speakers and other activities. It will certainly be a great learning experience and lots of fun. There are only 24 slots available, so if interested, sign up soon.