Spring Break
Observatory sees dramatic improvements in recent years
Space Studies assistant professor has worked towards the changes.
Ryan Johnson
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: News
Another one of his goals has been to make all of the components of the observatory accessible online, enabling distance-learning students to take advantage of the facilities without having to be there in person. This will be accomplished by this summer.
According to Hardersen, students can easily learn the online controls for the telescopes in under an hour of instruction. He said that the new abilities from the technology are benefiting everyone that can use the observatory's equipment.
"We've had students using the first Internet telescope for class work, and they started to use it for research last year," he said. "We've had students as far away as Bulgaria using this."
"That's what makes it nice for students in that they don't have to be here, they don't have to be out in the cold or out in the mosquitoes and they can do it from basically a nice, warm, cozy place," he added.
Hardersen is also working on establishing the Space Grant Internet Telescope Network, which currently consists of UND and a university in South Dakota. Institutions in Utah, Alabama and Puerto Rico have also expressed interest in the network.
Once completed in about five years, he hopes to have 15 to 20 observatories around the country involved in the project. The benefit, he said, is that it provides the opportunity for research and study more often than relying on good weather.
"If you were going to be studying an asteroid to derive its light curve, and it was cloudy here, then you could use an observatory say in Alabama to work for the night so you could get your observations in more quickly," Hardersen said.
Another goal for the summer is to install a small solar telescope on the top of Ryan Hall that can be used to observe the sun. Images from the telescope will be posted online as well.
Building interest
The ultimate goal of all of these renovations and additions, Hardersen said, is to increase the importance of astronomy research at the university.
"This is really an ongoing attempt to develop the infrastructure so students have research opportunities as well as class opportunities to use the telescopes, and to really have a stronger astronomy research capability at UND," he said. "That's really one thing I want to get out, especially to undergraduates, is that these opportunities are starting to make themselves available."
Getting professional-grade equipment may be years down the road for the department, due to the enormous costs of telescopes and the difficulty of getting funding. One of Hardersen's eventual goals for UND, a one-meter professional observatory built on the current location, would require about $4 million alone.
"I haven't found the money for that yet," he said. "Just getting students involved is really what I'd like to do."
More information about the facilities can be found online at http://observatory.space.edu.
According to Hardersen, students can easily learn the online controls for the telescopes in under an hour of instruction. He said that the new abilities from the technology are benefiting everyone that can use the observatory's equipment.
"We've had students using the first Internet telescope for class work, and they started to use it for research last year," he said. "We've had students as far away as Bulgaria using this."
"That's what makes it nice for students in that they don't have to be here, they don't have to be out in the cold or out in the mosquitoes and they can do it from basically a nice, warm, cozy place," he added.
Hardersen is also working on establishing the Space Grant Internet Telescope Network, which currently consists of UND and a university in South Dakota. Institutions in Utah, Alabama and Puerto Rico have also expressed interest in the network.
Once completed in about five years, he hopes to have 15 to 20 observatories around the country involved in the project. The benefit, he said, is that it provides the opportunity for research and study more often than relying on good weather.
"If you were going to be studying an asteroid to derive its light curve, and it was cloudy here, then you could use an observatory say in Alabama to work for the night so you could get your observations in more quickly," Hardersen said.
Another goal for the summer is to install a small solar telescope on the top of Ryan Hall that can be used to observe the sun. Images from the telescope will be posted online as well.
Building interest
The ultimate goal of all of these renovations and additions, Hardersen said, is to increase the importance of astronomy research at the university.
"This is really an ongoing attempt to develop the infrastructure so students have research opportunities as well as class opportunities to use the telescopes, and to really have a stronger astronomy research capability at UND," he said. "That's really one thing I want to get out, especially to undergraduates, is that these opportunities are starting to make themselves available."
Getting professional-grade equipment may be years down the road for the department, due to the enormous costs of telescopes and the difficulty of getting funding. One of Hardersen's eventual goals for UND, a one-meter professional observatory built on the current location, would require about $4 million alone.
"I haven't found the money for that yet," he said. "Just getting students involved is really what I'd like to do."
More information about the facilities can be found online at http://observatory.space.edu.
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