The Fairlawn Rotary Observatory was written in the stars. At the request of the Rotary Club of Fairlawn, John Shulan, president of the Rotary Club, started the Summit County Astronomy Club in 2014. He got a grant for a solar telescope. Shulan then launched a series of stargazing events on Sundays.
“[I] had this little homemade sign that said, Astronomy Tonight, and I set my own personal telescope up in the Bath Nature Preserve. We had a few other people with telescopes would start joining us, and we started to get some pretty good club size coming out,” Shulan recalls. “Then in 2016, my Rotary Club said, Well, gee, John, you’re being so successful with that. Why don’t you build an observatory?”
With funding from the Rotary Club of Fairlawn, other Summit County organizations and grassroots contributions, the Fairlawn Rotary Observatory opened in spring 2017 at the Bath Nature Preserve, which has multiple hiking trails.
Growing to over 2,100 members on Meetup, the nonprofit Summit County Astronomy Club maintains and operates the facility. Powered by volunteer astronomy teachers, electricians, astrophotographers, amateur astronomers and those in other fields, the team works together to bring stargazing to residents on clear nights.
The facility utilizes eight telescopes. The first building houses three telescopes with a classroom-slash-meeting space that seats 20 to 25 people, equipped with a large screen TV and a coffee station. Added in 2021, the main observatory building houses five larger telescopes, including a hydrogen alpha scope that allows daytime solar viewing and a 14-inch telescope and astrophysics mount donated by The University of Akron.
“We have a world-class facility there,” he says. ”We show everybody how to focus the telescopes, so they can get the images in a real sharp image, and that makes Saturn, the planets, routine space objects very exciting. Also, all of our telescopes are on adjustable pier, so they go up and down. We have handicap accessible ramps, one of the few handicap accessible observatories in the world.”
Designed primarily for public education and recreation, there are two large pads between the two buildings on-site, available for visitors to set up their own telescopes. “My favorite thing is sharing knowledge with the public,” Shulan says.
On clear, weather-permitting days, the observatory is open to the public. Beyond routine observation nights, the club hosts special events during exciting occurrences like eclipses and meteor showers. Shulan handed out over a thousand solar viewers for the 2024 solar eclipse. The club’s primary mission is community curiosity and bringing together astronomy enthusiasts.
The observatory is on the Meetup online platform. “[It] is rated No. 8 in the world for beginner amateur observatories,” says Shulan of its Meetup standing.
Because Bath is one of the highest spots in Ohio and the topography in the Nature Preserve helps block the sky glow from Akron and Cleveland, it makes for the perfect location to stargaze. In fall, see Saturn, Neptune, globular clusters, open clusters and ring nebula galaxies. Sept. 19 is the weather-permitting International Observing the Moon Night, and the observatory welcomes all. There is a scheduled meet-and-greet on Oct. 3 that includes refreshments, light fare and a telescope raffle for a chance of winning one of three different telescopes.
“I love watching people come out and get in wonderment of the universe and sharing knowledge,” Shulan says. “Astronomy is artistic, inspirational and a scientific wonderment.”
4160 Ira Road, Bath, facebook.com/summitcountyastronomy
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