Observatory at High School to Open on Friday

The public is invited to a brief ceremony 6:15 p.m. Friday (Sept. 28) for the ribbon-cutting at a new observatory on city property adjacent to Ocean City High School.

Attendees will be able to take a tour of the new facility, which is a joint project of the Ocean City Education Foundation, Ocean City School District and the Ocean City Free Public Library.

Ocean City students, residents and visitors can now view the night sky through the lenses of a university-style observatory. The observatory will eventually be open for many potential uses: astronomy clubs, lectures, lunar and solar events and First Night activities, for instance.

A sun dial donated by the Ocean City High School Class of 1926 will be mounted near the new observatory.

Ocean City Community Services Director Jim Mallon said the city is still working out details on a process for public requests for access to the observatory, but it should be immediately available to students.       

“This will be another badge for our declaration of being a STEM school (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)," high school science teacher and project organizer Matt Oster said earlier this year. "The usage both communally and academically for this observatory is endless."

The nonprofit Education Association, a citizens group funded through private donations, and the Ocean City Free Public Library shared equally in the approximately $50,000 cost of the project. Oster has been working to bring the observatory to the school for six years.

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Read more about the Ocean City Education's Oct. 13 fundraiser: 'Late Nite Catechism 3'