OSU To Become Telescope Partner

OHIO STATE PROPOSES JOINING TWO MAJOR ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORIES

     COLUMBUS -- Ohio State University officials have begun 
negotiations to become partners in two major observatories, one 
of which will house the world's largest telescope on a single 
mount.

     Ohio State intends to buy a one-eighth share in the Large 
Binocular Telescope (LBT) being built now on Mount Graham in 
southern Arizona.  The university also wants to become a partner 
in the Michigan-Dartmouth-MIT (MDM) Observatory located at the 
Kitt Peak National Observatory.  The deal would give Ohio State 
faculty and students access to three modern telescopes.

     University President E. Gordon Gee said, "This is an 
outstanding opportunity for Ohio State.  Our astronomy department 
has made tremendous strides in the last decade.

     "Joining these two fine observatories at this time will 
give our students and faculty access to the latest technology 
available, helping them to answer some of the most fundamental 
questions that have puzzled science for centuries."

     The LBT is a continuation of an earlier partnership, the 
Columbus Project, from which Ohio State withdrew for financial 
reasons in 1991.  Ohio State has retained a small share in the 
project based on its initial investment in spite of its earlier 
withdrawal.

     The LBT is being built atop the 10,600-foot Mount Graham in 
southern Arizona and will have two 8.4-meter (27.6 feet) primary 
mirrors.  Together, they will perform as an 11.8-meter (38.7 
feet) telescope.  Once completed, it will have 24 times the 
light-gathering power of the Hubble Space Telescope.

     Current partners in the LBT Corporation include the 
University of Arizona, the Research Corporation, and a group of 
astronomical institutes from Italy.  A group of German scientific 
institutions is negotiating to join the project as well.  When 
Ohio State and the German institutions do join, the project will 
be fully subscribed.

     The proposal to join the MDM Observatory on Kitt Peak, one 
of the sites that make up the National Optical Astronomy 
Observatories, would give access to two additional telescopes.  
MDM operates a 2.4-meter (7.8 feet) telescope and a 1.3-meter 
(4.2 feet) telescope.  The larger of the two is capable of 
producing images with resolutions as high as any similar 
instrument in the United States.

     Ohio State astronomers plan to use the MDM instruments 
primarily for survey and discovery research, some of which will 
then be investigated further using the LBT.  The MDM telescopes 
are excellent for use in student training and research.

     "Great universities have great astronomy departments and 
this project will give Ohio State a chance to be at the very 
forefront of science," explained Patrick Osmer, chair of 
astronomy.

     "We have a faculty of energetic researchers from some of 
the best astronomy departments and observatories in the country.  
The university needs to have access to instruments such as these 
if it and the State of Ohio are going to retain them and benefit 
from its investment in these scholars."The combined cost to Ohio 
State for joining these projects is $7.7 million which will be 
paid over a five-year period.

     Around $6.4 million is slated for the LBT.  Of that, $4 
million will be paid in cash and $2.4 million will be a "value-
added" contribution.  The university will provide $3.2 million 
to the LBT Corporation for construction of the telescope and 
$800,000 to the astronomy department's Imaging Sciences 
Laboratory which will design and construct instrumentation for 
the LBT valued at $3.2 million.

     The cost to Ohio State for gaining a one-third share of the 
MDM would be $1.3 million with an additional $100,000 required 
for annual operating costs.

     Last year, a review team of outside experts reviewing the 
astronomy program reported that the greatest obstacle preventing 
Ohio State from being among the top 10 astronomy programs in the 
country was its access to a large telescope.

     "The LBT partnership should eliminate that obstacle," 
Osmer said.

                             #

Contact:  Patrick Osmer  (614) 292-2022; Osmer.1@osu.edu.
Written by Earle Holland.

(EDITOR'S NOTE:  Videotape (Beta) showing the proposed Large 
Binocular Telescope and comments by Ohio State astronomy 
department chair Pat Osmer are available on request.  Contact 
Earle Holland (614) 292-8384.)


[Submitted by: Von Reid-Vargas (ereid@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu)
               
Mon, 14 Oct 1996 11:27:08 -0400]
All documents are the responsibility of their originator.