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Page 6A • Thursday, October 16,200]
Astronomy at A&M?
Panelist to discuss merits of bringing astronomy department to Texas A&M
By
THE ASS<
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Photo courtesy of www.ociw.com
Wendy Freedman, director of the Carnegie Observatories in California
and the woman who led the Hubble Key Project, will chair the panel.
Charles Townes, inventor of the
mittee to decide the future of the
Photo courtesy of www.eaglevideo.com
maser and a member of the com-
Hubble Telescope, will also speak.
Craig Wheeler
Texas, will also
By Amelia Williamson
THE BATTALION
On Friday, Oct. 17, instead of exploring the uni
verse, six of the world’s most famous astronomers
will be exploring the possibility of creating an
astronomy program at Texas A&M.
A&M invited prominent astronomers from all
different areas within the field of astronomy to take
part in a private panel discussion. Each panel mem
ber will bring a unique perspective to the discussion
and will have different ideas for creating an A&M
astronomy program.
“We went through a long process of choos
ing,” said Dr. George Kattawar, professor of the
physics department at A&M. “We felt the people
we picked were commensurate with the goals of
the workshop.”
Wendy Freedman, the director of the Carnegie
Observatories in Pasadena, Calif., and the woman
who led the Hubble Key Project that discovered the
rate at which the universe is expanding, will chair the
panel. Tod Lauer, a leader of the team of astronomers
who discovered the two supermassive black holes
near the center of the Andromeda galaxy, is also a
panel member, as well as Charles Townes, the inven
tor of the maser, the precursor to the laser.
Other panel members include Edward Kolb, a
leading theoretical cosmologist, David Cline, a
leader in the search for dark matter, and Craig
Wheeler, a distinguished astronomer from the
University of Texas.
The idea to create an astronomy program at
A&M began with financial donor George Mitchell.
Mitchell is an A&M graduate who said he has
always been interested in astronomy and believes
A&M students should have access to an astronomy
program. He says he has a great vision tor the
future of the University and the physics depart
ment and would fully support the creation of an
astronomy department at A&M.
“The hope is to create a Mitchell Institute for
Observational Cosmology and Deep Space
Astronomy in parallel with the Mitchell Institute
for Fundamental Physics that already exists at
A&M,” said Roland Allen, professor of the A&M
physics department.
An astronomy program would be geared mainly
toward graduate students and would create a wide
variety of quality high-level astronomy courses. An
astronomy minor is also being considered. So tar,
the University administration has stated that lour
positions are immediately available for the pro
posed astronomy program. Administrators also said
they hope to build up the program with support
from benefactors.
Allen believes that if the astronomy program is
created, it will start off as a part of the physics
department at A&M and will branch off once it
develops a strong foundation. He said he thinks the
program will not be fully developed for at least five
years and that a strong astronomy department is in
the distant future.
The panel discussion on Friday is just the first
step in a process that could take years to complete.
Allen said the purpose of the panel discussion is to
determine the resources needed, such as faculty
positions, endowed chairs, grant money, observing
time at telescopes and interested students, and to
decide how to proceed to create an observational
astronomy program at A&M.
Many consider A&M to be disadvantaged with
out an astronomy program.
“I think it is very important for A&M to have an
astronomy program ” said sophomore physics major
Ashley Pagnotta. “If you look at the top schools in
the nation, they all have one."
Discoveries are made in the field of astronomy
all the time, and without an astronomy depart
ment, A&M could potentially miss out on
Photo courtesy of HEi3.AS.UTEXAS.twj
, an astronomer and professor at the University of
speak. UT already has an astronomy department.
research opportunities, panelists said.
“Astronomy is a leading science and an exciting
area of study,” Allen said. "By bringing astronomers
to A&M its a part of an astronomy program, the
University would greatly benefit because the
astronomers would serve as wonderful teachers and
would keep the A&M community informed on
astronomical issues.”
Kattawar said the proposed A&M astronomy
program combined with the astronomy department
at the University ofTexas-Austin would put the state
of Texas on the map as a place of great astronomi
cal research.
“UT and A&M will be in symbiosis and will
complement each other’s progreuns,” Kattawar said.
“Between the two of us, we could come up with a
really stellar program.”
Kattawar said A&M has a lot of students interest
ed in pursuing astronomy, and that by developing
astronomy program, students would be able to have
the courses and research opportunities they desire.
"I came to A&M because I love the school and
the traditions, but I had to settle for my second-
choice major,” Pagnotta said. “An astronomy pro
gram would benefit me by providing me an oppor
tunity to study what I actually wanted to in the
first place.”
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