Summer 2000 -- Vol. 17, No. 1

FACES OF PENN STATE

Larry Ramsey
Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Studying the universe--watching stars, sunspots, and quasars from an observatory and then waiting to complete computer analysis of the data--can be monotonous.

Such work can also be tremendously rewarding.  Just ask Larry Ramsey.

"Like any other field, there is a lot of drudgery in astronomy," Ramsey said.  "There are also moments that are extremely exciting.  It is one of the few professions I know of that can really be fun."

Thanks in large part to Ramsey and Daniel Weedman, a former professor of astronomy and astrophysics at
Penn State, studying the universe has become a lot more fun--and affordable--for other astronomers and scientists.

Their unique design for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, which began operation in 1999, utilizes a mirror 11 meters in diameter, the largest optical collecting surface in the world.

Constructing that spherical mirror with 91 separate, smaller mirrors was part of a design plan that made the obseratory a comparative bargain.  The Hobby-Eberly Telescope cost $13.5 million--about  a sixth of the cost of one of the 10-meter Keck telescopes in Hawaii.  The  telescope is located at the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas, and is operated by a group of five partners: Penn State, the University of Texas, Stanford University, Georg-August University, and Ludwig-Maximilians University.

The telescope has limitations, with a comparatively small field of view and a fixed gaze at 55 degrees above the horizon.  It features a movable base and can see about 70 percent of the sky accessible to other optical telescopes.

"We're getting 70 percent of the sky for 15 percent of the price," Ramsey said.  "Also, the design allows us to get a large number of spectra in a short amount of time."

Just as important, its affordability means more astronomers and scientists are getting access to an important tool. By its abilities alone, the telescope quickly has become valuable for detecting the composition, distance, rotation, and temperature of astronomical objects.

It cannot measure the size of astronomical objects, but as a tool for spectroscopy, the chemical analysis of matter gauged by the light it absorbs or emits, it already has become invaluable.

As one of the originators of the concept and the Project Scientist for the telescope, Ramsey helped set a standard for cost-effective scientific study.  The design has been so successful that a clone, the South African Large Telescope, is being built in the Southern Hemisphere.

In addition, Ramsey's work has attracted other scientists to Penn State.  One of the most recent is Jain Ge, assistant professor of astronomy and astrophysics, whose efficient, practical approach to instrumentation for use in ground-based spectroscopy seems to match the approach of Ramsey.  With the use of chemical etching techniques, Ge has developed accurate and effective spectroscopic devices that are the size of a suitcase instead of the size of an entire room.

-- By Steve Sampsell

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