Winter 2012 - Austin College Magazine

A C E N T U R Y
starry,
starry nights
T
Austin College’s
new telescope
will open vistas
for students
and the community
The observatory of the new IDEA Center will house a state-of-the-art
custom-built telescope, made possible by a grant from the John &
Patricia Adams Family Foundation. The 24-inch telescope will be on
par with the research telescopes at larger institutions, and will have
an ultra-sensitive, high-resolution camera to capture digital images
of the moon, planets, and deep space as well as a high-resolution
spectrometer to measure light intensity at several wavelengths.
With this new equipment, students will be able to monitor the
weather on Mars, track near - Earth asteroids, and possibly even
measure the spin of other galaxies in deep space.
“There’s a possibility student researchers will be able to discover
new asteroids, or to detect comet impacts on Jupiter,” said David
Baker, associate professor of physics.
In addition to providing top-notch research opportunities for
science majors —“once a student is trained on the telescope, they’ll
get free reign with it,” Baker said — the observatory will support a new
course offering. An astronomy course for non-majors will offer
hands-on work with the telescope, and, students even may be able to
build their own (small) telescopes.
“They’ll learn not just about the night sky, but about the
equipment and the technology that is used to observe the universe,”
Baker said.
The observatory also will host “star parties” for the community
and secondary school students. A room set aside on the third floor of
the IDEA Center will allow groups to see images from the telescope
on a large screen, guided by physics students.
Having this telescope will “better prepare our students to become
astrophysicists,” said Baker. He hopes it also makes Austin College
the destination for future scientists, and sets the College apart for
high quality undergraduate astronomical research.
28 | Austin College Magazine Winter 2012