George Mason University Observatory
Dr. Harold Geller
Observatory Director
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GMU’s First Observatory
• GMU had two previous
astronomy observatories
built since its founding
– First opened 6 October 1975
• Work on the first observatory
began in 1972
• Observatory was called the
Herschel Observatory by the
Department of Physics
• It was built by students John
Whalan, Chipper Peterson,
and Bob Veenstra under the
supervision of Dr. Bill
Lankford
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Observatory History
• The Herschel Observatory was the
pig shed adjacent to the Mallory
House, across Route 123 from the
main campus
– The pig shed was torn down to make
way for the Field House
• Second observatory was built in
the athletic fields
– this second observatory, a metal shed
with roll off roof suffered vandalism
more than once
• lead to its demise by 1980
• torn down within two years
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Observatory History
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Plans were made to have an observatory on the roof of
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Science and Technology I (now Planetary Hall)
Science and Technology II (now Exploratory Hall)
Academic IV (now Innovation Hall)
In 1983 Harold Geller (a grad student) circulated a petition that
was received by then President Johnson, regarding the building
of an observatory for GMU
Over the years, faculty involved in plans to obtain a new
observatory have included Lankford, Kafatos, Lieb, Ellsworth,
Ehrlich, Becker, Wallin, Geller, and Dworzecka
Administrators that have been advocates for an observatory
included Provost Stearns, Vice-Provost Hill, Dean Struppa and
Dean Kafatos
Each time financial issues stopped the building of an
observatory.
In 2004 GMU began building its new Research I facility with an
observatory tower
In 2007 Research I (now Research Hall) opened officially
In 2009 GMU obtained a telescope from Virginia Tech
In 2011 GMU took delivery of its 32” Ritchey-Chretien telescope
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Mason’s
Observatory
Today
Mason’s
Observatory
Tower
R
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S
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A
R
C
H
H
A
L
L
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Ribbon Cutting in 2011
• 0.8 meter diameter
reflector telescope
• 3 meter diameter radio
telescope
• Weather station
• Night sky brightness
meter
• International Dark
Sky Association
• Vatican
Observatory
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Relative
telescope
diameter sizes.
Sizes of On-campus Regional
Observatory Telescopes
• GMU 32” diameter
• UVa 26” diameter
• U.S.Naval Observatory
26” diameter
• University of Maryland
College Park 20”
diameter
• Johns Hopkins University
20” diameter
• Georgetown University
12” diameter
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Observatory Run Under SPACS (School of
Physics, Astronomy and Computational Sciences)
Academic Programs in SPACS
• Undergraduate
Programs
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BS in Astronomy
BS in Physics
Minor in Astronomy
Minor in Physics
Minor in
Computational Data
Sciences
• Graduate Programs
– Accelerated BS/MS in
Physics
– MS in Applied and
Engineering Physics
– MA in Energy and
Sustainability Concentration
– PhD in Physics
– Graduate Certificate in
Computational Techniques
and Applications
– MS in Computational Science
– PhD In Computational
Sciences and Informatics 8
SPACS Program Census
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Active ASTR BS Students:
Active PHYS BS Students:
Active ASTR Minor Students:
Active PHYS Minor Students:
Active CDS Minor Students:
Active PHAE MS Students:
Active CDS MS Students:
Active PHYS PhD Students:
Active CSI PhD students:
22
118
5
4
8
13
10
40
94
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SPACS Enrollment in Spring 2014
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Astronomy Courses
Physics Courses
Comp Data Sci
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TOTAL STUDENTS S’14
1136
3272
371
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4779
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Where Have They Gone
Undergraduates to grad
school at:
• U. of New Mexico
• U. of Alabama
• U. of Wisconsin
• U. of Maryland
• U. of Virginia
• U. of Switzerland
• George Mason U.
Graduate students to work
at:
• Naval Research Lab
• NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center
• U.C. Berkeley
• S.A.I.C.
• Fairfax County Public
Schools
• Booz, Allen, Hamilton
• George Mason U.
• Northern Virginia
Community College
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Observatory Operations Summary
• The Mason Observatory is located on the Fairfax Campus of George
Mason University within Research Hall
• A telescope was procured from Optical Guidance Systems
• It is a 32-inch diameter Ritchey-Chretien telescope
• Current staff
– part-time director (Harold Geller)
– 1 GTA (Tiffany Lewis)
– Volunteers
• 1 full-time faculty (Mary Ewell)
• 1 affiliate faculty (Darryl Wilson)
• Graduate students and undergraduate students
• The Mason Observatory has an active outreach program
– Each year hosting an average of 16 public observing sessions
– With an average of 50 persons per public observing session
• The Mason Observatory operates on funds from donations and
laboratory fees
– No separate funding for the observatory itself
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Educational Use of Observatory
• Students in astronomy lecture
• Students in astronomy
laboratory
• In-service professional
development for teachers
• Undergraduate and graduate
research programs to
complement current and future
astrophysics classes
– including directed study, senior
thesis, and thesis/dissertation
work
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Research Use of Observatory
• Even within the light-polluted skies
of Fairfax, the technology will allow
us to
– Search for extrasolar planets (planets
beyond our solar system)
• we have done this
– Conduct astroseismology studies
(characteristics of stellar surfaces and
interiors) with a high resolution
spectrograph
• we need ~$150,000 to buy this
– Search for supernovae (stars which
have exploded in our galaxy and other
galaxies)
• we need students interested to do this
– Conduct studies of planetary
atmospheres with a high resolution
spectrograph
• we need ~$150,000 to buy this
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Outreach Use of Observatory
• Public night observing
sessions
• Public lectures
• School observing
sessions
• School planetarium
sessions
• Summer science camps
• Mentorship of local high
school students
• Support of local
astronomy clubs
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Media and the Mason Observatory
• Front page articles of
Fairfax Times and
Washington Times
• Fox Channel 5: Dr.
Michael Summers
regarding the NASA
mission to Pluto
• Appearance on Fairfax
Public Access cable
TV: Dr. Harold Geller
regarding evidence of
the Big Bang Theory
and the Inflation Epoch
• Appearances in Mason
publications
(Broadside, Gazette,
Periodic Elements)
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Observatory Video
http://physics.gmu.edu/~hgeller/GMUGellerMPF091314A.mp4
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