Summer Edition

New Telescope at Biosphere 2 Will Spark New Program: 'Universe Semester'

BY FAYE YATES

Oracle, Ariz. - Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center recently broke ground for a new observatory that will house the Biosphere 2's newest educational offering.

To be completed by October, the facility will feature a 24-inch reflecting telescope, a public viewing area and classrooms for a program called Universe Semester.

"It will provide Universe Semester students with a world-class chance to study astronomy and provide a new resource for Tucsonians and visitors," said Chris Bannon, vice president for operations at Biosphere 2 Center. The observatory, located on a bluff high above the center, will incorporate several cutting-edge environmental features in its design and construction.

The telescope features the same optical design as the Hubble Space Telescope, and plans call for the whole system to be computer-controlled and Internet-operable. Observers worldwide will be able to log on to the Biosphere 2 Website to view southern Arizona's night skies.

The new observatory is key to the debut this fall of Universe Semester, an intensive undergraduate program in astronomy and astrophysics that focuses on night sky observations under clear desert conditions. The course offers students a full semester of Columbia University credit.

The new telescope will give students the opportunity to study variable stars, supernovae and near-Earth asteroids.

A grand opening of the new facility will take place in October.