A win-WIYN situation
Most Bloomington residents are familiar with the Kirkwood Observatory. The domed campus landmark has been providing views of the stars for more than a century. But few are aware of another observatory available to the Indiana University astronomy department -- the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Ariz.
The sun sets behind Kitt Peak National Observatory, which is located 56 miles southwest of Tuscon, Arizona.
Fewer still know that IU astronomers don't need to be anywhere near Arizona to study the sky through the Wisconsin Indiana Yale and NOAO (WIYN) telescope located there. That's because the facility can be accessed directly from a computer more than 1,500 miles away, located on the fourth floor of IU Bloomington's Swain Hall West.
"Astronomy's remote observing facility is an essential part of our research program and a great educational tool," said Caty Pilachowski, chair of the astronomy department. "Faculty can assist students on-site, students on campus can participate directly with those in Arizona, and undergraduates can see what observing on a big-time, professional telescope is all about."
The WIYN telescope can be controlled by a computer sitting amid a dozen others in the fourth-floor, bunker-style room in Swain Hall West. From this computer, students and faculty can video conference with Kitt Peak and manipulate the WIYN telescope's instruments as if they were physically there. Although large images can take a few minutes to transfer to Bloomington, graphical displays of data require only a fraction of a second.
"With IU's excellent Internet connectivity, it's the next-best thing to being there," said Pilachowski.
Being flexible with using the telescope is important because getting observatory time can be a difficult task. Indiana University controls 17 percent of the WIYN telescope, which adds up to about 50 nights per year that must be divided among the entire astronomy department. Additionally, time can be assigned at the WIYN director's discretion to compensate for instrumentation malfunctions, bad weather, or when observations suggest an interesting result that needs quick confirmation. These nights can become available without much warning and are what make remote observing capabilities so valuable, although not every astronomer is as fortunate as those at IU.
"The remote observing capabilities are certainly not ubiquitous in astronomy departments across the country," said Tala Monroe, a graduate student in astronomy. "We're lucky to have it."
But despite the impressive facilities, it's still important for students to go out to Kitt Peak and use the telescopes themselves. Trips to Arizona provide hands-on professional training and more time to set up the instrumentation, which can be tedious at times.
A special instrument on the WIYN telescope uses 100 movable, fiber-optic cables that can be arranged to align with stars in the sky. After the cables are set and the telescope is aimed, astronomers can observer up to 100 different stars simultaneously. Needless to say, setting up takes a lot of precise tuning, which is best done in person.
When Monroe is lucky enough to get observation time, she points the WIYN telescope at young stars with gigantic discs of dust orbiting around them. The discs around these large stars -- one to two times the size of our Sun -- often form planets and solar systems. Monroe is studying whether stars with high amounts of metals in them form planets more often than those without.
It is a long process, however; it's impossible to watch solar systems develop and evolve in real time because it takes billions of years. So scientists have to observe thousands of different stars in different stages of development and piece together the life of a "typical" star. But the hard work could help scientists know where to look for new planets in the future.
But the WIYN telescope isn't the only reason Monroe loves going out to Kitt Peak. Besides hands-on learning, the facility also offers one of the most stunning settings for a scientific laboratory in the world.
"It's so remote and yet you're surrounded by technology," said Monroe of the desert facility. "It's an amazing feeling."
