The Universe via the West Georgia Observatory

The Arts and Sciences program, featuring Dr. Bob Powell an experimental physicist, will take place on Sunday, January 23, at 2:30 p.m. at the Neva Lomason Memorial Library .

Dr. Powell is director of the University of West Georgia Observatory. In addition to condensed matter physics, he is interested in astronomy, alternative energy, and the teaching of physics. In his lecture, "The Universe via the West Georgia Observatory," Dr. Powell expresses...

Thousands of UWG students and visitors have looked through telescopes at the West Georgia Observatory since it went into operation in October, 1979. From the beginning, the Observatory has been used to support the astronomy program offered by the Department of Physics and to provide astronomy enrichment to interested visitors, clubs, church groups, and school groups. The original 14” reflecting telescope was purchased using a grant from the National Science Foundation. That telescope was replaced in October, 2009 with a 16’ computerized telescope.

The Observatory has been a window to the universe. Many solar system objects have been observed and photographed including the Sun, the Moon, planets, asteroids, comets, and the dwarf planet Pluto. Groups of stars are also popular objects to view; these include binaries (two stars which interact gravitationally), open clusters (hundreds of stars), and globular clusters (tens of thousands of stars). Nebulas, which are clouds of gas and dust, are readily visible. For example, M42, the great nebula in the constellation Orion, is featured in viewing sessions during the winter months. Planetary nebulas and remnants of supernova explosions are shown to visitors when those objects are above the horizon. Galaxies are also seen and imaged. The most distant galaxies that have been observed are tens of millions of light years away.

Astronomy is a popular course at the University of West Georgia. About 600 students take the introductory coursed each semester of the academic year, and over 250 students take the astronomy lab course. The Observatory is used extensively by UWG students taking astronomy courses and labs. The facility is open to these students 20-25 times per semester.

Students also use the Observatory for projects. These include imaging the Sun through different filters, collecting data on visual binary stars, determining the light curve of eclipsing binaries, and searching for new asteroids. Students have reported the results of their research at meetings such as the Georgia Academy of Science and the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research.

Public observations are held each month during the academic year, generally on Monday evenings. The next date is January 24, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. if the sky is clear.

Additional observations are held for special events, such as eclipses or unusual celestial objects. The most popular objects for the community have been Haley’s comet in 1985-1986, comet Hale-Bopp in the spring of 1997, and the close apparition of Mars in August, 2003. Especially at these times, hundreds of people have attended each of the observations.

The presentation will use images taken at the West Georgia Observatory.