Post by Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe on Jul 6, 2006 18:51:14 GMT -6
University of Utah to build telescope in southern Utah
This 32-inch-diameter optical telescope made by DFM Engineering is an example of the kind of telescope the University of Utah plans to install in southern Utah, although the university has not yet made a commitment to buying any particular brand of telescope. The Willard L Eccles Foundation has awarded the university $600,000 for a 32-inch telescope and a building to house it. Photo courtesy of DFM Engineering, Inc.
The robotic reflecting telescope – which can be operated by remote control and programmed to make observations on its own – will be used not only for research and education, but to involve the public in star-gazing parties, astronomy camps and even dedicated observing time for high school, middle schools and community groups.
"As part of this effort, we are trying to bring science and technology and an interest in science to rural Utah, to southern Utah, which traditionally have not had as many opportunities as you have in northern Utah," says Dave Kieda, a professor of physics and director of the Utah High Energy Astrophysics Institute.
The researchers hope to order the telescope this fall from a manufacturer, break ground during the spring of 2007, install the telescope in spring 2008, and then begin operation during summer 2008, says Wayne Springer, a University of Utah associate professor of physics who is spearheading the project.
Scientists hope to identify two or three possible sites for the reflecting telescope by the end of this summer, Springer says. They are seeking sites at 9,500 to 11,000 feet in elevation. Scientists still are discussing design of the small building to house the telescope, and whether it should have a roll-off roof, rotating dome or perhaps a building that rolls away.
Compared with great observatories, a 32-inch telescope is small. Yet Kieda says that with the same kind of optical telescope, astronomers have searched for asteroids that fly near Earth; mapped expansion of the universe by looking for distant exploding stars or supernovas; hunted Jupiter-sized planets orbiting other stars; observed active galactic nuclei, which are supermassive black holes at centers of galaxies; looked for optical counterparts of gamma ray bursts; and watched variable stars, which are used to map the distance scale of the universe.
Springer says the $600,000 donation will pay for the telescope, some additional equipment and the building to house the telescope.
"Additional funds for infrastructure – roads, power, communications, Internet – we are seeking from the university and state," he says, noting those costs could be as much as $300,000 depending on the site picked for the telescope.
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It would be a great experience to visit and peer through all the observatory telescopes in the country...and the world.
Good for Utah!...
