There is something new to rave about in Muskoka: the opening of Canada's first, and Ontario's largest, resort-based astronomical observatory.

Owned by Delta Grandview Resort, the Echo Valley Observatory is situated at one of the highest points in Muskoka in the Township of Lake of Bays.

Open to both the resort’s guests and the general public, a single visit to the observatory is all it takes to leave one truly inspired.

“Each show takes on its own dynamics,” said Thomas Kovacs, a self-taught amateur astronomer. Kovacs considers his job to be a little slice of heaven as he also lives on site and studies the stars in his spare time. “People come in at about 9:30 p.m. and they’re usually gone by about midnight. The show starts with a bit of a lecture in the house, where I give a basic talk on cosmology. Then we go into the observatory and see all the things I was talking about.”

The observatory show is for anyone interested in learning some very basic, yet interesting, facts about the sky. Kovacs uses a laser pointer to show people how to find the north star in a “very infallible way,” which, he says, visitors will always be able to remember by aligning it with the Big Dipper. He will teach people how to identify the difference between satellites and airplanes and how to recognize the International Space Station’s satellite. There is also the opportunity to witness some colourful stars ranging from turquoise to ruby red. Craters on the moon, spiral galaxies and open clusters that appear like “diamonds on black velvet” can also be seen.

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of visiting the Echo Valley Observatory is the chance to peer through the Schmidt Cassegrain 16-inch F10, an astronomical telescope that cost around $30,000 and was purchased in 2000 when the observatory first opened.

“It collects far more light than binoculars,” he said. “The job of a telescope is to adjust brightness not magnification. Magnification is more or less incidental. The telescope enlarges and brightens to the point where we can clearly see objects. Saturn is a fantastic object right now. People often don’t believe that it’s real. Pluto is extremely faint, but it all depends on the season. For example, you can only see the winter constellation in the winter and the same goes for the summer constellation. Mercury and Venus. . . . It’s all very fluid. Neptune and Pluto will be coming around later in the season. But really, there’s always stunning deep-sky objects to look at.”

Even as a small child, Kovacs found himself intrigued when staring up at the night sky through his telescope. It didn’t hurt that he was strong in mathematics either, as much of astronomy is based on the subject. That combined with his undying interest in astronomy and astrophysics fuelled his desire to want to make a living out of studying the sky.

It was while working at a planetarium/observatory in Haliburton that Kovacs heard about the Echo Valley Observatory. In the autumn of 2007, he took it upon himself to contact Grandview’s general manager, expressing interesting in possibly running the observatory. With a positive response, Kovacs was hired about a month ago to oversee the operation of the observatory.

According to Quinn Michell, marketing manager for Grandview, the Echo Valley Observatory first opened its doors in 2000. Being in Muskoka, Michell said the observatory was opened to provide a unique experience to guests that “no one else offered.”

At first, the observatory was managed by a few of Grandview’s staff who shared a common interest in astronomy. However, because the individuals were not able to offer observatory shows on a nightly basis, it closed in 2007.

“We needed an astronomer who had a lot of knowledge and could answer any questions that were asked,” said Michell. “We wanted to keep it open on a nightly basis, but the people we had (before Kovacs) just couldn’t accommodate our guests. We needed to find someone who could dedicated themselves to the observatory on a nightly basis, and it’s worked out perfectly with Thomas.”

The observatory is open every night throughout the summer months, except on cloudy nights when the sky is not visible. And because Kovacs lives on site, it provides him the opportunity to do his own spectroscopy during evenings when the observatory isn’t too busy.

“Spectroscopy is studying star light,” he explained. “I measure the properties of stars, how hot they are, how fast they are spinning, what their classification is and how fast they are moving through space. I pry the secrets out of the stars. I’m also revising a very popular astronomy book published about 40 years ago. It’s huge work because there are three volumes. I’m doing everything from catalogue and positional data. For a guy like me, this is a great job.”

Kovacs is willing to take on one or two students who are majoring in astronomy/astrophysics with particular interest in the field of high resolution spectroscopy set in an informal internship setting. Those who are interested may call him at 635-3910.

Tickets to the Echo Valley Observatory are $30 and are available by calling Delta Grandview Resort at 789-4417.