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COLLEGE ACQUIRES OBSERVATORY FOR RESEARCH |
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February 13, 2008
GROVE CITY, Pa. – Grove City College has acquired an observatory from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and will utilize the remote structure for astronomy classes as well as faculty and student research.
The Grove City College Observatory will open many doors to physics faculty and students, as well as those teaching and studying in other science disciplines. After some minor work on the observatory, cleanup, and technical and software upgrades, the goal is for faculty to utilize the observatory during the 2008-09 academic year. Plans are to operate the telescope more than 60 miles away remotely from the Grove City College campus. The Torus 20-inch robotic telescope housed at the observatory is manufactured by Optical Mechanics, Inc. of Iowa City, Iowa.
According to Chair of the Department of Physics Dr. Shane Brower, the purchase of the property, three buildings and equipment inside will pave the way for the addition of an astronomy minor on campus.
Currently, one College astronomy course is open to students, and is popular among science and engineering majors. With the addition of the observatory, an observational astronomy class could be added, said Dr. Stacy Birmingham, Dean of the Albert A. Hopeman Jr. School of Science, Engineering and Mathematics. The observatory will also help draw prospective students who are looking for strong physics programs and astronomy coursework.
All funds for the purchase of the observatory came through donations by alumni and friends to the Swezey Scientific Instrumentation Fund, designed to help prepare Grove City College students for careers and leadership in the hard sciences and engineering. The Fund is named in honor of former College Dean William W. Swezey, an educator and administrator from 1946-73. Under his leadership, the quality of education and the preparation of science and engineering students flourished. Gifts made to the Swezey Fund by alumni and friends help purchase the specialized tools and equipment necessary to keep pace with science and engineering education and research.
According to Birmingham, research opportunities in variable star observations exist, as do occasions for outreach. For example, the physics department plans to work with area public schools as well as other colleges and universities on educational and research projects. Research in astronomy today includes the exciting prospect of viewing new areas of the sky and possibly discovering what was previously unknown, especially as more science news on space exploration, asteroids and other topics make headlines.
Additionally, a possibility exists to offer real-time feeds on the Grove City College web site so alumni, friends, students, parents and community members could essentially take a look through the remote telescope at the night sky, constellations and planets.
Opportunities also exist in remote study abroad through the Grove City College Office of International Education. In January 2007, Dr. Kevin Mackay, associate professor of physics, and Dr. Charles Kriley ’88, professor of chemistry, taught an astronomy class in Ireland. Brower has tentative plans to offer the course again, this time utilizing the observatory and remote telescope, from Costa Rica in Central America in January 2009. He was recently awarded a sabbatical for the spring 2009 semester for his research. While exploring the possibility of another abroad astronomy class, he will study the optical properties of various thin film metal hydrides. He will work with Dr. Daniel Azofeifa, a member of the Department of Physics and the Materials Science and Engineering Research Center of the University of Costa Rica.
In the fall of 2006, Mackay helped initiate the construction of a small observatory on the Grove City College Intramural Fields. Through the donation of funds from a former student, the physics department completed the structure to house a 14-inch computer controlled telescope.
The placement of the campus observatory allowed students to stargaze as far away from the bright lights of campus as possible. Funds to build the on-campus observatory were donated in memory of Constantine L. Passarelli and Myrtle J. Passarelli from the Myrtle J. Passarelli Charitable Remainder Trust. The Passarelli’s daughter, Alice J. Steffler, donated the funds primarily at the request of her father, a Grove City student for a brief time who had a lifelong interest in science.
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