Richmond Hill
April 30, 2008 10:40 AM
David Fleischer, Staff Writer
Just when the David Dunlap Observatory will close for good is still up in the air, but what is certain is public access to the site has now been reduced.
As of today, public evening tours of the observatory are cancelled, by order of the University of Toronto.
Daytime tours offered to school groups are to end on June 16. As well, several pre-booked tours were cancelled due to the decision.
The “de-activation” of the tours is due to the looming closure of the observatory and the need to save telescope time for researchers, according to the university.
For more on the observatory and the battle to save it, click here.
Professor Tom Bolton, a researcher at the observatory for 37 years, called the issue a red herring.
“The tours do not interfere much with research. I certainly wasn’t objecting to the tours and they’re usually on nights when I have observing time,” Mr. Bolton said. “I know of no reasons to cancel the tours.”
Only an estimated 50 hours are needed for the tours, usually on weekend nights for two hours at a time, if the sky is clear.
Faculty of Astronomy chairperson Peter Martin said he had no comment on the matter beyond that the observatory is up for sale.
Asked if researchers had requested more time with the telescope he said, “It would certainly help them.”
Mr. Bolton was among those who took issue with the school’s prior assertion that light pollution mitigated the telescope’s effectiveness, necessitating a sale. He said he believes this latest decision is another example of the school using an illogical argument to justify its plans.
“If there has been a way for them to mishandle (the observatory’s closure), they’ve found it,” Mr. Bolton said.
Astronomy Day takes place on May 10, and while celebrations typically take place at the observatory and on the downtown campus, this year it is only be the campus.
Again, observatory employees were told the looming closure was the reason.
One employee speculated the university may be trying to minimize public exposure at the site.
When the university put the lands up for sale last October, they announced July 1 as a closing date for the sale and for research.
Things have not moved so quickly, however, and now researchers only know their work is to end at some undetermined point this summer, Mr. Bolton said.
The premature end of tours is disappointing given how many people would certainly want to see the site before it closes, he said.
“There would be high demand during the summer. I’d like to see as many people going through the observatory as possible,” he said.