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Rather than stay locked in his office, Bob Mesler decided to spend his nights staring at the sky with other UNM students.
Mesler, a graduate student at UNM, started the astronomy club in 2012 with Mark Gorski, who is now the club’s vice president. The club holds meetings at 8 p.m. on the first Monday of every month in the UNM observatory, Mesler said.
“We have telescopes, we have cameras, we have eyepieces, we have everything we need,” he said. “So basically all that professional equipment is loaned to us, and we can use as we want.”
Mesler doesn’t want the astronomy club to alienate nonscience majors. He wants the club to be about enjoying what’s in the sky, not to dwell on the science, he said.
“You just have to be a student. You don’t have to know anything about astronomy, you don’t have to ever have seen a telescope before,” Mesler said.
Mesler’s interest in astronomy started in high school, when he first got the chance to use a telescope. This experience was so significant it helped shape the way he runs the astronomy club.
“I think that’s probably why I like to include people who aren’t physics majors. I like to get people involved who are just regular students so they can enjoy it like I did when I first started out,” he said.
Members of the astronomy club can enjoy taking photos of the night sky, looking through the telescope and holding star parties for comets, Mesler said.
Associate professor Ylva Pihlström, the club’s adviser, is in charge of guiding the club and advertising for the club. She is an astronomer, and said the club gives students an opportunity for hands-on experience in astronomy and increases the interest of students in the field.
“This is a great way to learn about physics and astronomy, and I strongly support the efforts by the students in our department working for this,” she said.
The observatory and its equipment aren’t limited to the astronomy club. Every Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. the observatory is open to the general public, professor Richard Rand, who oversees the observatory, said.
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Public access to the observatory is important for the physics and astronomy department, as well as the astronomy club, he said, as it gives students a chance to use the equipment to experience space first hand.
“People seem to love astronomy, and it’s a unique experience to be able to see with your own eye some of the deep space wonders through a telescope,” Rand said.
In addition to assisting the astronomy club, Rand also said opening the observatory is important to the public teaching and outreach mission.
For more information about the Astronomy Club
Email Bob Mesler
meslerra@unm.edu
