Utah astronomy

Physicists at the University of Utah hope that a new 32-inch telescope helps kick-start the introduction of an astronomy major and advanced astronomy degrees in their department, and that it becomes the basis for a high-altitude observatory in southern Utah.

The Willard L. Eccles Charitable Foundation, based in Salt Lake City, has given the University of Utah $600 000 for an optical robotic telescope, which will be used for research on variable objects and for public outreach. A search for a site has begun, and the telescope is supposed to be up and running in 2008.

State-owned land in southern Utah has already undergone required environmental studies and building the observatory there would not face opposition from environmentalists or Native Americans, as has become commonplace in other parts of the country, says Utah physicist David Kieda. “The nice thing about Utah is that we have high, dry sites—up to 12 000 feet.” A good site, he adds, could attract optical, IR, and gamma-ray telescopes and cosmic-ray detectors.

The university will offer a minor in astronomy starting this fall, and physics faculty members are lobbying to hire observational astronomers.