By Emily Rinaman, Technical Services Librarian
How often at night, when the heavens are bright,
With the lights from the glitterin' stars,
Have I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours?
So goes the cowboy classic, “Home on the Range.” Even for many in the 21st century, it’s still a popular past-time to sit around a campfire in the summer time gazing up at those same stars designed into the same constellations that people have admired since the beginning of time. And while the skies have their moments of extraordinary meteor showers, comets, and the like, any glance above on a clear night without all that glitz and glamor can still take one’s breath away.
Members of Tiffin Columbian’s astronomy club test the telescope they built during the 1969-1970 school year.
People have studied “the heavens” for centuries, a term now referred to as Astronomy. We now have terms and explanations for so many of space’s mysteries, but even just a few hundred years ago, these events held special meaning for most civilizations. Native Americans, including those who lived in Seneca County, studied the stars for signs of impending events. A comet in June 1861 was seen as an omen to a foreboding that the Civil War would be an ugly and bloody affair. This particular comet to scientists is known as the Great Comet of 1861 and was visible to the naked eye for three months.
T-SPL staff members view the May 1994 solar eclipse using special reflective devices.
Seneca County resident A.J. Baughman wrote in his diary about witnessing a fabulous meteor shower on November 13, 1833, as he watched in fascination for several hours. “The meteors disappeared,” he writes, “leaving long blue streaks which soon faded away. They appeared a short distance away, always disappearing before hitting the ground. They looked like stars the size of hen’s eggs and were very numerous and close together.”
Luckily, meteor showers are much more common than comets. In fact, scientists have now officially established 112 unique meteor showers. Baughman, judging by the date of his entry, most likely was witnessing the November Orionids which start in mid-November.
Another treat space provides us that’s more common than a comet, but less common than a meteor shower, is eclipses. Some are minor and some are major; some are lunar and some are solar.
Probably one of the more infamous ones for most Ohioans and residents of Seneca County is the 1994 solar eclipse. This was an annular eclipse that “culminated” in Wauseon, Ohio, so Tiffin was very close to it’s “center.” While an annular eclipse lasts hours, the peak range is only a matter of minutes.
A solar eclipse in 1806 left Ohio-born Shawnee chief and shaman, Tecumseh “The Prophet,” on edge. He had a vision of the eclipse shortly before it occurred (at a time when eclipses couldn’t be predicted with scientific technology like they are now), seeing it as “natural cleansing.” This particular eclipse is now known as “Tecumseh’s Eclipse.”
Tiffin Columbian was one of the first high schools in the state of Ohio to get a planetarium in the early 1960s. The gentleman in this photo is presumed to be Larry Casing, the founder of Columbian’s astronomy club.
While planet Earth can go years between comets, and days, weeks or months between meteor showers and eclipses, the constellations are always present on a clear night.
As far back as 1936, Tiffin had its very own “nature club” that went on night hikes to study the constellations. Out of all the recognized constellations, 42 depict animals, 29 relate to objects, and 17 are either humans or mythological characters. The stars on the United States flag are actually referred to as our national constellation.
As the Space Age developed throughout the 20th century, planetariums were built and astronomy clubs in schools were formed. Columbian High School was one of the first schools in the state of Ohio to be granted a planetarium. This planetarium was such a big deal that Lincoln Elementary students took a field trip in May 1961 to see it. By the late 1960s, when NASA was preparing to send men to the moon for the first time, Columbian’s algebra teacher, Larry Clausing, a former West Junior High teacher, had formed the school’s astronomy club which built its own telescope.
The Tiffin Boy Rangers acquired a telescope for its planetarium, the Ballreich Observatory, in 1984. The Emerson-McMillin telescope had originally been given to Heidelberg College from The Ohio State University. Many field trips of different youth groups have at one time or another viewed the sky from this planetarium.
Sources:
Astronomy Trek. https://www.astronomytrek.com/constellations-2/
Ford, Dominic. Eclipses 1950 – 2299. https://in-the-sky.org/eclipses.php
Hocken, Vigdis and Aparna Kher. “What Are Annular Solar Eclipses?” https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/annular-solar-eclipse.html
Lincoln School News May 1961. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/48355/rec/1
Pathfinder Directory. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/38656/rec/1
Photograph Solar Eclipse 1994. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/53555/rec/1
Seneca County History Volume 1. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/17053/rec/1
Seneca County Genealogical Society. Seneca County, Ohio History & Families. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/28319/rec/1
Tiffin, Ohio a Good Place to Teach-a Good Place to Live. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/33808/rec/1
Yearbook Columbian Blue and Gold 1970. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/10021/rec/1
Yearbook Columbian Blue and Gold 1988. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/12123/rec/1
Yearbook Columbian Blue & Gold 1936. Seneca County Digital Library. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/2717/rec/1