The Astronomy Open House at Kennon Observatory provides guests a peek into the heavens through one of many telescopes.

Each month, University of Mississippi astronomers open the doors of Kennon Observatory to the public, providing an alternative source of entertainment for children and parents.

With today's technology- video games and cell phones- it is hard to keep kids focused. Yet, each month astronomers find their open house full of kids.

Oxford resident Preston Turner has taken his son to the Kennon Observatory’s open houses many times.

“He really enjoys doing it. He has gotten to see Saturn and all it's rings. He said it looked like a UFO with wings,” Turner said. “They allow kids to come on clear nights, and it's really neat looking through big scope.”

Kennon Observatory houses several telescopes under its copper-domed roof, though it did not originally hold the telescopes. From 1859 to 1939 the Physics and Astronomy Department occupied Barnard Observatory before Lewis Hall and Kennon Observatory were built.

Consisting of two domes, Kennon was built in 1939 during the tenure of Professor William Lee Kennon. Separate domes were built for two telescopes. The larger dome includes a 15-inch refracting telescope with co-aligned visual and photographic telescopes and 25-inch portable Dobsonian telescope.

The smaller dome, after being renovated in 1997, now holds an electronic CCD camera attached to a 12-inch Schmidit Cassegian telescope. This electronic CCD camera makes fixed telescopes behave like tracking telescopes, following the motion of the sky and offering viewers a larger image of the sky.

The CCD electronic camera is a main attraction at the Open House. It usually grabs the attention of children. These telescopes provide kids a new experience they are not accustom to these days. Making the telescopes at Kennon tough competition for video games and computers.

On December 10^th starting at 5:30 p.m. the Oxford community is welcome into the doors of Kennon Observatory located on the Ole Miss campus. Admission is free, and as long as the weather permits the show will go on. Although its main audience tends to be children the observatory and telescopes are sure to grab the fascination of adults as well. You’ll be in awe at the treat you are in for.