Ball State University students and faculty now have access to a telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. It is the second telescope they have access to, with the intention of expanding their research.
The Ball State physics and astronomy department also has access to a telescope located in Kitt Peak, Ariz. The access was acquired by the Southeastern Association for Research and Astronomy, of which Ball State has been a member.
Getting access to other telescopes gives the opportunity for students and faculty to do more research because weather in Indiana can be less than clear.
"How many things can you get done in just three or four nights?" professor Ronald Kaitchuck said in a press release. "If the weather does not cooperate, astronomers sometimes have to wait months for another shot."
Kaitchuck said the telescope in Arizona guarantees 30 nights per year for students and faculty.
"Now with a second telescope, we further increase the opportunities for our students to conduct important research projects with objects that can only be seen from the southern hemisphere," he said.
Students and faculty can use the telescopes through a secure internet site from Cooper Science Building and download images from the digital cameras, according to a press release.
"By pooling the resources of SARA, we have dramatically improved our research opportunities," Kaitchuck said in the press release. "We will be able to go after grants simply because we will have more time to make deeper observations."
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