Don't Miss Chamberlain Observatory's 125 Year Celebration

DENVER (CBS4) - The University of Denver's Chamberlain Observatory allows people to get an up close look at some incredible parts of the solar system. This weekend the observatory is celebrating a big milestone.

The Denver Astronomical Society is hosting an event to honor the 125th anniversary of the Chamberlain Observatory. First light through the observatory's 20-inch Clark-Saegmuller refractor telescope occurred on July 14, 1894.

"It was used for science in the early days and now it's used more for education and public outreach," explained Ron Hranac with the Denver Astronomical Society.

Hranac said the telescope dates back to the 1800s.

"We get 5,000 people a year here looking through the scope and taking advantage of our outreach activities," he said.

To celebrate the observatory's anniversary, they will be holding events throughout the day on Saturday. The celebration will take place between 10am-2pm including kids' activities, observatory tours and solar observing, as well as related lectures and presentations.

The observatory will re-open at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night for a Denver Astronomical Society open house.

The DAS hopes the events will spark some new interest in science.

"It's a good opportunity to expose particularly kids to science," Hranac said. "And that might start out with nothing more than a look through a telescope at the moon or seeing the rings of Saturn or the belts on Jupiter."