S PERRY - Last Saturday, eager members of the Southeastern Iowa Astronomy Club opened up a 9-inch-by-3-foot metal box stuffed with 25 years of memories.

The time capsule was caulked, bolted shut and placed inside the John H. Witte Observatory classroom when the facility was completed in 1987, and astronomy club members finally opened the box Saturday night to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the observatory and the adjoining classroom.

"The highlights were 'The Hawk Eye' newspaper clippings," said founding astronomy club member Jim Hilkin. "All in all, there weren't a lot of juicy things in there."

The clippings detailed the two-year construction process of the observatory, as well as the passing of Halley's Comet. The comet last appeared in the sky in 1986 and isn't due to come back until 2061.

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The one thing Hilkin didn't find was an action figure from his 30-year-old son, John Hilkin. Though Jim thought the action figure was in there, his son (who was 5 years old when the capsule was placed) didn't want to give up one of his toys for the next 25 years.

Hilkin said new items will be added to the box so it can be sealed away for another quarter of a century, though some members want to wait until December to do that.

"We want to see if the world is going to end," said Hilkin.

According to many interpretations of the Mayan Calendar, the world is supposed to end in December of this year. However, recently discovered Mayan wall writings found in Guatemala show calendars that go well past 2012.

Though attendance was sparse at the observatory Saturday night because of cloudy skies, the astronomy club got together again Sunday evening to watch a rare annular solar eclipse, which was best viewed in the southwestern portion of the U.S. Though the sun went down before the local astronomers were able to view the ring around it, Hilkin still was pleased with what he saw.

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Area astronomy club opens its time capsule