Anne Perez was at Eastern’s observatory the first night it opened three years ago.

Perez was co-president of the Astronomy Club at the time. She and 15 other club members were among the first to look through the 16-inch robotic telescope.

“The first object we focused on was the moon,” Perez said. “It was so amazing being able to see such detail.”

Perez became involved in the telescope project late, and she said astronomy club sponsor Jim Conwell was in charge.

“(He) would have tools lying around the observatory to fix certain parts and finish the odds and ends,” Perez said.

Conwell, a physics professor, took a sabbatical leave to help with the building. However, astronomy club members put in a lot of work as well.

“All the renovations were done by students,” Conwell said. “They built the control room, the observing platform, cut the hole in the roof, put the dome up and installed the telescope.”

Perez now works as an eighth grade language arts and science teacher in the public schools of Chicago. She admitted the observatory is the one thing she misses most about Eastern.

“There are so many stars and planets you can see in Charleston. I never really saw a clear sky living in Chicago my whole life,” Perez said.

According to Conwell, Charleston’s skies are not always perfect.

“If it’s cloudy, it’s a downside,” he said.

The observatory is located along a gravel road starting on Fourth Street between Taylor and Coleman Halls.

“I used to love the walk going there. It was a distance, even though I lived in Stevenson,” Perez said. “The best night to go was when it was cold and clear.

“As I would walk, I would be so cold, but I could see all of the stars out and I was excited because I knew that in a short time I (would) be there looking at them though an amazing telescope.”

According to Conwell, there are several ways the observatory works.

He said, it can either work by someone in the control room programming the computer, telling the telescope to move different ways manually, or it can work automatically, where they can program a list in the computer system.

“With the (telescope), you can see up to approximately 10,000 times dimmer than you can see with the naked eye,” Conwell said.

For Family Weekend, the observatory will be open for the public at 9:30 tonight. Normally, it is open every last Friday of the month.

Conwell, as well as members of the astronomy club will be there as tour guides to help parents and students see various objects in the sky.

Conwell said that there would also be smaller telescopes outside the observatory so that parents and students who are waiting will have something to do.

“If you have never looked at an object through an enlarged telescope, if you haven’t looked at the moon, Jupiter, or any of the planets, it’s going to (be) spectacular,” he said.