Belmarie Ponciano/ Contributing Writer
news@fiusm.com
The Stocker AstroScience Center has finally received its long-awaited installment: a custom-built, 24-inch, reflecting Ritchey-Chrétien telescope.
Originally expected to arrive last November, the telescope finally landed on FIU grounds Saturday, Oct. 25.
The custom-built telescope, housed inside the automated dome of the Stocker Astroscience Center is the first telescope of its kind at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. It was funded through student tech fees, amounting to $350,000.
“Having a telescope on campus is probably the best thing that’s happened to FIU,” said Andres Medina, senior physics major and Astronomy Club president.
Before the arrival of the 24-inch reflecting mirror telescope, students used telescopes half its size that provided a limited view into space for labs. The aperture with a focal ratio approximate to six has the capacity to capture more light, creating a brighter and clearer picture.
“With this telescope, you can see much more of the night sky. We will be able to image planets, moons and star formation regions in [the Milky Way] galaxy and in distant galaxies nicely. It will be able to do a lot of things you wouldn’t believe we can do from Miami,” said physics and astronomy professor James Webb.
The new telescope was lifted by crane and hoisted onto a steel frame and pole structure detached from the Stocker building. The added stability prevents regular vibrations caused throughout the building from disturbing the telescope’s imaging.
The stability also allows students to mount added camera equipment to the telescope for image and video recording of their findings — a task once difficult due to instability of smaller telescope mounts.
This new addition brings the total of the University’s remotely controlled telescopes to four.
Daniella Roberts, senior physics major and treasurer for the Astronomy club, thinks the new gadget could spark research opportunities.
“I actually want to go to graduate school for astronomy. Being able to have observatory experience with a big telescope will be awesome,” Roberts said.
FIU’s partnership with the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy grants remote access via FIU’s control room to three telescopes nestled in more elevated, darker sites. These locations include Arizona, Chile and soon to be in the Canary Islands.
“Having an on-campus telescope gives students better accessibility. With the remotely controlled telescopes, students had to coordinate usage times with other universities under SARA,” continued Roberts.
Medina hopes to see students become more engaged in Astronomy club with the telescope’s arrival.
“[We plan] on having as many star parties as we can,” he said.
FIU Astronomy Club hosts five public events every semester, gathering crowds of interested students and community members as large as 250.
“I cannot count how many people I’ve shown Jupiter and Saturn and its rings to using our telescopes . . . It’s a really great thing. I love doing it,” said Webb.
Webb hopes the new telescope continues to inspire students and community members to understand science and Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics programs, as well as enjoy the visions of the solar system and Universe.
“We want to make the telescope as student-accessible as possible,” added Roberts.
Along with Dr. Webb’s vision, the Astronomy Club is still working to accomplish another feat— naming the telescope.
“Personally, I was thinking of calling it Bellatrix,” concluded Medina.