(GUNNISON COUNTY, Colo.) — The Gunnison Valley Observatory allows visitors to explore the wonders of the universe through its state-of-the-art telescope.
“As far as we know, this is the largest publicly accessible telescope in Colorado,” said Suzanne Taylor, Vice President of the Gunnison Valley Observatory. “We have a beautiful view of the Milky Way and see tons of stars.”
Located in the heart of Gunnison, the observatory stands as a beacon for stargazers and astronomy lovers alike.
The Gunnison Valley Observatory is a publicly-owned facility staffed by volunteers like Taylor. She has dedicated more than 15 years to teaching the marvels of the cosmos.
“When you show somebody Saturn for the first time, whether it’s somebody who’s a five-year-old or somebody who’s 95 and they’re like, ‘wow, I’ve never seen anything like that before,'” Taylor explained. “That is why we do this and why we come back all the time.”
The 30-inch telescope was built by an amateur astronomer in the 1980s to observe Halley’s Comet. When it suddenly went up for sale in the 2000s, the community banded together, turning a dream into reality for Gunnison.
“There were a couple of local folks who one night were sitting out on their porch looking up at the night sky and they heard about this telescope for sale,” Taylor said. “They said, you know what would be awesome is if we could get that and bring it out here to Gunnison. It turned into a huge fundraising campaign. They were selling bottles of water and things like that just to raise funds to purchase that telescope.”
During the summer months, the facility hosts public nights every Friday and Saturday, featuring engaging astronomy talks and guided telescope viewings.
For those looking to experience the magic of the night sky, the Gunnison Valley Observatory is a gateway to the cosmos and you never know what or who you might see.
“I was talking to a student and they were looking at the sky and go, oh my god I saw a UFO and I’m like, it was probably just a shooting star or something,” Taylor explained. “Then like a week later, I’m out closing the gate and I’m looking and I see something that I think is this light and it’s doing this weird circle motion. I’m like, ‘what am I looking at?’ and then I realized, somebody in that neighborhood over there has a drone that they are flying, and that is the UFO that everybody’s been seeing.”
