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George Mason University Observatory

Dr. Harold Geller

Observatory Director

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GMU’s First Observatory

• GMU had two previous astronomy observatories built since its founding– First opened 6 October 1975

• Work on the first observatory began in 1972

• Observatory was called the Herschel Observatory by the Department of Physics

• It was built by students John Whalan, Chipper Peterson, and Bob Veenstra under the supervision of Dr. Bill Lankford

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Observatory History

• The Herschel Observatory was the pig shed adjacent to the Mallory House, across Route 123 from the main campus– The pig shed was torn down to make

way for the Field House• Second observatory was built in

the athletic fields– this second observatory, a metal shed

with roll off roof suffered vandalism more than once

• lead to its demise by 1980• torn down within two years

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Observatory History• Plans were made to have an observatory on the roof of

– Science and Technology I (now Planetary Hall)– Science and Technology II (now Exploratory Hall)– Academic IV (now Innovation Hall)

• In 1983 Harold Geller (a grad student) circulated a petition that was received by then President Johnson, regarding the building of an observatory for GMU

• Over the years, faculty involved in plans to obtain a new observatory have included Lankford, Kafatos, Lieb, Ellsworth, Ehrlich, Becker, Wallin, Geller, and Dworzecka

• Administrators that have been advocates for an observatory included Provost Stearns, Vice-Provost Hill, Dean Struppa and Dean Kafatos

• Each time financial issues stopped the building of an observatory.

• In 2004 GMU began building its new Research I facility with an observatory tower

• In 2007 Research I (now Research Hall) opened officially• In 2009 GMU obtained a telescope from Virginia Tech• In 2011 GMU took delivery of its 32” Ritchey-Chretien telescope

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Mason’s Observatory

Today

Mason’s Observatory Tower

RESEARCH

HALL

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Ribbon Cutting in 2011

• 0.8 meter diameter reflector telescope

• 3 meter diameter radio telescope

• Weather station• Night sky brightness

meter• International Dark

Sky Association• Vatican

Observatory

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Sizes of On-campus Regional Observatory Telescopes

• GMU 32” diameter• UVa 26” diameter• U.S.Naval Observatory 26” diameter• University of Maryland College Park 20” diameter• Johns Hopkins University 20” diameter• Georgetown University 12” diameter

Relative telescope diameter sizes.

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Observatory Run Under SPACS (School of Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences)

• Undergraduate Programs– BS in Astronomy– BS in Physics– Minor in Astronomy– Minor in Physics– Minor in

Computational Data Sciences

• Graduate Programs– Accelerated BS/MS in

Physics– MS in Applied and

Engineering Physics– MA in Energy and

Sustainability Concentration– PhD in Physics– Graduate Certificate in

Computational Techniques and Applications

– MS in Computational Science– PhD In Computational

Sciences and Informatics

Academic Programs in SPACS

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SPACS Program Census• Active ASTR BS Students: 22• Active PHYS BS Students: 118• Active ASTR Minor Students: 5• Active PHYS Minor Students: 4• Active CDS Minor Students: 8• Active PHAE MS Students: 13• Active CDS MS Students: 10• Active PHYS PhD Students: 40• Active CSI PhD students: 94

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SPACS Enrollment in Spring 2014

• Astronomy Courses 1136• Physics Courses

3272• Comp Data Sci 371• =================== ====• TOTAL STUDENTS S’14 4779

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Where Have They Gone

Undergraduates to grad school at:• U. of New Mexico• U. of Alabama• U. of Wisconsin• U. of Maryland• U. of Virginia• U. of Switzerland• George Mason U.

Graduate students to work at:• Naval Research Lab• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center• U.C. Berkeley• S.A.I.C.• Fairfax County Public Schools• Booz, Allen, Hamilton• George Mason U.• Northern Virginia Community College

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Observatory Operations Summary

• The Mason Observatory is located on the Fairfax Campus of George Mason University within Research Hall

• A telescope was procured from Optical Guidance Systems• It is a 32-inch diameter Ritchey-Chretien telescope• Current staff

– part-time director (Harold Geller)– 1 GTA (Tiffany Lewis)– Volunteers

• 1 full-time faculty (Mary Ewell)• 1 affiliate faculty (Darryl Wilson)• Graduate students and undergraduate students

• The Mason Observatory has an active outreach program– Each year hosting an average of 16 public observing sessions– With an average of 50 persons per public observing session

• The Mason Observatory operates on funds from donations and laboratory fees– No separate funding for the observatory itself

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Educational Use of Observatory• Students in astronomy lecture• Students in astronomy

laboratory• In-service professional

development for teachers • Undergraduate and graduate

research programs to complement current and future astrophysics classes– including directed study, senior

thesis, and thesis/dissertation work

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Research Use of Observatory

• Even within the light-polluted skies of Fairfax, the technology will allow us to– Search for extrasolar planets (planets

beyond our solar system)• we have done this

– Conduct astroseismology studies (characteristics of stellar surfaces and interiors) with a high resolution spectrograph

• we need ~$150,000 to buy this– Search for supernovae (stars which

have exploded in our galaxy and other galaxies)

• we need students interested to do this– Conduct studies of planetary

atmospheres with a high resolution spectrograph

• we need ~$150,000 to buy this

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Outreach Use of Observatory

• Public night observing sessions

• Public lectures• School observing

sessions• School planetarium

sessions• Summer science camps• Mentorship of local high

school students• Support of local

astronomy clubs

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Media and the Mason Observatory• Front page articles of

Fairfax Times and Washington Times

• Fox Channel 5: Dr. Michael Summers regarding the NASA mission to Pluto

• Appearance on Fairfax Public Access cable TV: Dr. Harold Geller regarding evidence of the Big Bang Theory and the Inflation Epoch

• Appearances in Mason publications (Broadside, Gazette, Periodic Elements)

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Observatory Video

http://physics.gmu.edu/~hgeller/GMUGellerMPF091314A.mp4