Telescope consortium broadens Irish horizons
By ERIN PIROUTEK
By joining an international consortium to build a Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), Notre Dame hopes to strengthen its nationally respected astrophysics program as well as benefit undergraduate and faculty recruiting.
“This is a new era in telescope building,” said Terrence Rettig, associate physics professor who spearheaded the University’s effort to join the consortium.
The telescope, used to search for other planetary systems, will be the world’s largest optical/infrared telescope on a single mount. With its twin 8.4 meter mirrors atop Mt. Graham in Arizona, it will be the premier observatory for imagining planetary disks around nearby stars, Rettig explained.
The telescope, to be completed in 2002, will also enable study of the origin and evolution of stars, galaxies and the universe, Rettig added.
“It will be a remarkable technological achievement capable of images that no other telescope can obtain,” said Jeffrey Kantor, vice president and associate provost, in a statement announcing the agreement.
As a part of the consortium, Notre Dame will have immediate access to other telescopes operated by the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory. Astronomy students and those conducting undergraduate research will benefit from LBT data, according to Bruce Bunker, chair of the physics department.
“Being a member of this LBT consortium will give undergraduates opportunities that they never had before,” said Rettig.
Membership in the consortium is expected to significantly impact faculty recruitment. Harvard professor Peter Garnavich will begin studying at Notre Dame in January.
“Already, it has made a big difference,” said Bunker. “[Garnavich] was definitely attracted because of the LBT.”
Notre Dame’s participation also is expected to foster academic cooperation; current consortium members include Ohio State, University of Arizona, Arcetri Astrophysical Institute and a German consortium of research institutes.
“This will allow us to collaborate with a bunch of institutions that we haven’t had the opportunity to work with before, said Rettig. “That’s what we look forward to.”
Notre Dame spent $1.6 million to join the consortium, with $800,000 in matching funds from the Research Corporation, a private institution that supports academic research, according to Bunker.
All News Stories for Thursday, August 4, 1999
