Studying planets, stars and galaxies are opportunities open to students on campus.
The departments of Physics and Earth Science are collaborating on a proposal to offer a future minor, which currently is in draft form.
In addition, Southern features a Planetarium, located in Morrill Hall, for class instruction and hosting outside schoolchildren (6–8 last spring) or planned shows, such as fall Open House. Shows are presented about once per month.
The Planetarium seats about 50, and the original system dates back to the building’s construction in the 1950s. It is used for ESC 210: Principles of Astronomy taught by Profs. Elliott Horch, chairperson of Physics Department, and Dana Casetti, and an Independent Study course taught by Horch, PHY 100: P Stars, Planets and Galaxies.
Recently, a new digital projector was purchased with $20,000 provided by the provost’s office and $17,000 from internal Physics funding.
The study does not stop there, in the Science Building is a collection of sophisticated astronomy equipment, three large telescopes and several astronomical cameras. Equipment is also used on the building’s roof. Students conduct research in the labs with the equipment. They are also used in externally funded research projects. In addition, the Optics Teaching Lab is used for Optics courses.
Horch, an astronomer and a distinguished CSU professor, who works on astronomical instrumentation. Horch on multiple occasions received time to use the Hubble Space Telescope, which he said is extremely difficult to obtain.
Horch is working on many astronomy projects. “The current generation is the one who is tasked with exploring space like it was our predecessor’s duty before us to trek the world.”
This belief is why he’s attempted and succeeded at acquiring multiple federal grants valued at millions of dollars for students.
Jeremy Turpin, senior, physics major, is one of the students who has been working closely with Horch on astronomy projects.
“I’m working with [Dr. Horch] on his speckle imaging technique he revolutionized to its current state,” Turpin says. “We more or less take pictures of what we believe to be binary stars.”
Turpin says his love for astronomy started at a young age, driving around the Arizona and New Mexico area and seeing the stars.
“I remember getting out of the car and seeing the star-filled sky as compared to here [Connecticut] where there’s a lot of light pollution and that just amazed me and garnered my interest.”
Max Martone, senior, physics and applied math major, says he has been working on a major project in astronomy.
“[I] work on a project under NASA space grants, mostly dealing with Hubble Telescope space data,” Martone says. “Right now, we’re working on taking astrometric measurements of various parts on things that haven’t been measured before. So, it’s pretty exciting.”
Fiona Powers-Ozyurt, graduate student, applied physics major, says for a year, she was a national science foundation astronomy research fellow. She lived on an island doing research, traveling the world using the biggest telescopes.
“I never got into the universe or the cosmos or anything like that all at all in school and it was until college and even for people who aren’t interested in that specially it’s also great at teaching you how to think.”
In the Science Building, there is a control room where students can remotely use telescopes in as far as Arizona or Ohio. Ozyurt says she has used this control room on multiple occasions, learning other ways of thinking. It has her in awe every time she experiences what is beyond Earth.
“I don’t ever want to get desensitized to the wonder of space, that’s what got me into it, I don’t ever want to lose that,” Ozyurt says.
Ozyurt says she hopes it’s a hands-on approach and thinking about life beyond Earth is what gets students engaged in the minor.
“A lot of people have an interest the universe and the meaning of life and very existential things. So, I feel like that is a very human thing. People deserve to know about that kind of thing,” Ozyurt says.
Horch says he is interested in how stars and planets work. He hopes the astronomy minor that’s being worked on can have some of that magic his mother showed him as a child that initially piqued his interest.
“[My mother] was the kind of mom who, with something interesting was happening in the sky, you know, whether it was eclipse or planets alight or whatever. Then she would strongly encourage my brothers that they should get out of bed and go see this. You know, she’s very enthusiastic about it. So, I think that’s where my love for astronomy really started,” Horch says.
“Half the time when you have a star and some planets, you have another star that’s very close. It is orbiting the whole system as well. And so that’s a surprising result of that. And so, the next thing that we would like to try to understand about systems like that is, okay, do you have planets orbiting this one, other planets orbiting this star? And so again, it’s about building up statistics so we can understand how unique is our solar system,” Horch says.
Horch encourages students to come pursue the study of astronomy and work on these groundbreaking projects.
“Astronomy is a very interdisciplinary field,” Martone says. “Even if you don’t want to get involved in astronomy beyond graduation, it’s still a pretty good thing to get involved in.”
Turpin says he plans on staying at the university to continue his work with Horch.
“I hope to enter the master’s program and probably continue my research with Dr Horch if he allows me,” Turpin says. “I know he wants to set up a wireless interferometry system, basically turning Southern campus into a giant telescope.”
Ozyurt says she hopes to do something related to astronomy whether that be instrumentation, more on the engineering side or science related.
“I would love to work in a research facility or something in an industry. But you know, I could even be a professor one day,” says Ozyurt.
“[The] opportunities and the world that opens up for students, is exactly the reason this future minor is so important,” Horch says.
