Camp Cullom is expanding its educational outreach and preparing to remotely control an unmanned dome, telescope and optical video feed at Prairie Grass Observatory in Clinton County to show celestial objects anywhere in the world.
Camp Cullom will be able to bring the wonder of the heavens to nursing homes, school open houses, evening Boy and Girl Scout meetings and any evening gathering.
When Camp Cullom’s Prairie Grass Observatory purchased its new dome recently, the Observatory Trustees decided to pay about $4,500 extra for the electronics package allowing remote control of the dome building. After about three additional years of fund raising, money is now raised to purchase a high precision heavy duty $10,000 mount that will allow a large 7” refracting telescope to be controlled remotely via internet and focus on over 30,000 objects in the night sky.
Camp Cullom’s volunteers will be able to control the dome, scope and image from miles away and show and explain features on Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, craters on the moon, star clusters, galaxies and more.
Now Indiana and midwest residents can come to the observatory or the observatory can go to the students, scouts, nursing homes, festivals and fairs.
The final finish line on funding was crossed by a gift to Camp Cullom and Prairie Grass Observatory by Frankfort’s VFW in a presentation last night at the Camp Cullom board meeting from Ranger Hoppy Bray to Observatory Director Russ Kaspar.
Camp Cullom Board President and Observatory Trustee Andy Schilling spearheaded the dome assembly and installation of the electronics package to be used in this education initiative.
The observatory is in the process of finalizing mount specifications and will begin installation of components expected this summer and early fall. This will allow observations during the cold winter months and will have the added benefit of social distancing for observations projected on screens worldwide and throughout the county.
Camp Cullom and Prairie Grass Observatory are funded by United Way for Clinton County. High speed Internet is supplied by Mulberry Telephone, which helps make this project possible.
Camp Cullom is a 92 acre Camp in Clinton County owned by the children of Clinton County and operated by volunteer board members from Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions Club, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, Zonta, Optimist Club and at-large volunteers from Clinton County.
Camp Cullom hosts programs and activities from area public schools, sports teams, boy and girl scouts, home school groups, astronomy clubs, Purdue University Classes, law enforcement youth events, 4-H, disc golf groups, family reunions, churches and many other groups and organizations interested in education and recreation. Camp Cullom also hosts the Camp Cullom Academy of Science for area 5th graders.
