Outer Space Mystery Read Free

cookout. Maybe he just got caught in the storm.”
    Just then Randy Merchant walked by, carrying a Styrofoam cup of juice. “Hey, guys!” he greeted. “When you finish, come by the observatory. I’ll show you the telescope.”
    “Oh, boy!” Benny said, stuffing half a muffin in his mouth. “Let’s hurry!”
    Violet laughed. “Benny! The telescope isn’t going anywhere.” But she was eager to visit the observatory, too.
    “Good breakfast,” Jessie said when Rachel cleared their plates. “Thanks.”
    “Don’t thank me,” she said shortly. “I’m not the cook.”
    As the Aldens went outside, Jessie remarked, “I wonder why Rachel is so unfriendly.”
    “Maybe she’s just having a bad day.” Henry indicated a sign beside a graveled path. “The observatory is this way.”
    The trail wound upward, between jagged rocks and thick bushes. The children were out of breath when, a while later, they reached a windowless building capped by a white dome.
    “We’re on the very top of the mountain,” said Henry as they headed toward the building. “You can see the campus down there.”
    They opened the door to the building and walked down a hall lined with desks and bookcases. At the end of the hall another door stood open.
    “Come in!” Randy’s voice echoed from within.
    The children stepped into a huge round room. The ceiling curved overhead like the inside of an egg. In the center of the room was a large cylinder-shaped object.
    Randy Merchant stood at the base of the instrument, holding a pair of pliers. “Welcome,” he said, grinning.
    Henry looked up, marveling at the enormous structure. “We’re inside the dome, aren’t we?”
    “There’s a big crack in it,” Benny said, pointing to a narrow slit in the roof. “You should get it fixed.”
    Randy laughed. “The slit is supposed to be there. The roof slides open when the telescope is in use.” He patted the huge cylinder. “I told you it was a beauty.”
    “Can we look through it?” asked Benny.
    “I’m doing some maintenance on it right now,” Randy replied. “But I’ll tell you about it. This is a twenty-four-inch reflecting telescope.”
    “How does it work?” asked Henry. He was interested in mechanical devices.
    Randy adjusted a wheel on the side of the telescope. “There are two types of telescopes,” he explained. “Refracting and reflecting. Both types gather light and send it toward the eye of the viewer. Refracting telescopes use a lens. Reflecting telescopes use a mirror. Both types of lenses allow you to see objects very far away.”
    “Speaking of far away, why is this building so far from the rest of the college?” Jessie wanted to know.
    “Good question,” said Randy. “Observatories are always located in high places, like a mountaintop. The air is clearer up here and we are farther away from city lights. You want a really dark sky so you can see the stars.”
    Henry touched the sleek white metal of the telescope. “Are you an astronomer like Mark Jacobs and Eugene Scott?”
    “Oh, you’ve met those two already,” Randy said with a chuckle. “No, I’m not a student. I work for the college, keeping the telescope in working order. I’m also a writer,” he added proudly.
    “I’m a writer, too,” Benny put in. “I can write my name. I can write Watch’s name, too.”
    “Watch is our dog back home,” Jessie told Randy. “What have you written?”
    Randy went over to a desk and pulled out a box.
    “These are my journals,” he said. “I write down everything the astronomers do. Even what they eat for snacks. Mark likes peanut butter sandwiches. Eugene Scott eats anything. I hope to get an article published about young astronomers in a science magazine.”
    Henry glanced at the clock over the desk. “This has been great, but we should let you get back to work.”
    “Come back tonight,” Randy urged. “Mark will show you the stars like you’ve never seen them.”
    The Aldens went back outside and