So my name is Ryan Hannahoe and I'm the Executive
Director of the Montana Learning Center at Canyon Ferry Lake. The Montana Learning Center, we
like to describe it as Montana's science camp for kids. And we just don't do science camps.
We also have a world-class observatory too. We have several night sky programs. And first
and foremost is our Beyond the Big Sky series, where we partner world-renowned speakers
with stargazing here under the Big Sky. In addition to our speaker stargazing
se
ries, we also will host private groups. And you can rent an astronomer and the astronomer
will be your guide and you get to use some of the telescopes here at the Montana Learning Center.
You can come and be awestruck by not only the telescopes but the views at night. We have
several observatories. Our first observatory is the Deep Space Imaging Observatory. And
we have telescopes located in there that are meant to photograph the night sky. Not
objects that are close but objects that are fa
r away. Objects that are in our galaxy.
Objects that are outside of our galaxy. The one pictured behind me is the largest
publicly accessible visual telescope in the state. Our last observatory here at the MLC is our
Solar System Observatory. And every telescope in there has a different purpose. From the
largest robotic telescope in the state to the most advanced solar telescope in the state, you
can view objects in the solar system like you've never seen them before. High resolution
detai
l. Imagine photographing the moon. But not just the moon. Craters, specific
craters on the moon. Or seeing the rings of Saturn for the first time or photographing
the rings of Saturn for the first time. You can do that all and more in the Solar System
Observatory. From looking through the telescope at the first time or capturing an image of
deep space. It's definitely a wow factor. Especially working with kids. It gets
kids really excited. Families excited. Just to be here, be in Montana
a
nd looking at the night sky. It's exciting. To give you one example, in
May when it's new moon, so no moon is out, the sky is the darkest it can be. Just in
front of our observatories down on the lake, on the water, you can see the Milky Way reflect
off the lake. And it's just, you know, it's an exciting experience. When I was a kid, I first
got interested in astronomy. And it happened in such a way where we got to see the Perseid meteor
shower. Just meteors just stream across the sky. That
got me excited about outer space and
really thinking more. And now it's become, from an interest as a child to now,
it's a career. It's a very humbling experience to get underneath a dark
sky, especially here in Montana. We've got some of the darkest skies in
the country. It helps that we're rural. And as such, you know, you can get outside
relatively quickly and observe the Milky Way. Unfortunately most of the planet doesn't have the
opportunity to observe the sky at night because their
sky is so bright because of lights in
cities. Light pollution is, when you have a light, an outside light in particular, it's either too
bright or too big or it's not shining where it should be on the ground. And so unfortunately
we suffer from a lot of light pollution across the United States and across the world where it
impacts our view of the night sky. If you're at home and you go outside and you look up at night,
you know, can you see stars? Well, in some cases, not so much. Here in B
ig Sky country, it's great
that we have rules around lighting in certain areas. You know, we're fortunate enough to have
Dark Sky Parks like Glacier National Park where you can get out relatively quickly and observe the
night sky and do so not in an impacted manner by city lights. The great thing about astronomy is,
you know, it's not only a humbling experience and it's personal, but you know, you could just be one
person and contribute to the field of astronomy. You can literally be the on
ly person on the planet
looking in a particular area and see something for the first time that no one else sees. For me,
it's personal and it's humbling and you know, here at the Montana Learning Center, we
just want to share that with everybody.
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