A Versatile Optical Bench for Undergraduate Astronomical Observations

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An already-successful laboratory program is astronomical observation is to be expanded so that students will plan their own observing project. They will construct an instrument by arranging components on an optical bench. This instrument will be tested in the lab and then taken to the telescope. Possible configurations include a direct imaging camera; interferometer; polarimeter; speckle camera; coronagraph; and spectrograph. The detector will be an intensified CCD (charge-coupled device) camera that can be operated either at video rate or with accumulation. The former mode allows fast events like occultations to be observed; the accumulation mode allows observation of faint objects. An integration can be stored as a disk file for subsequent analysis. Data can also be stored on video tape, and displayed for larger groups with a wide-screen television. This capability will provide a concrete model of the scientific techniques, and will moreover provide excellent opportunities for undergraduate research. This program is enabled by a new computer-controlled telescope at The University of Chicago that provides for a horizontal beam and a fixed focus, thus allowing instrumentation to be easily configured at the telescope. Matching funds are requested from NSF for the optical bench set-ups, the intensified CCD camera (including an acquisition/guide camera), and the video equipment, namely a high-quality recorder and a wide-screen projector. An upgrade for the current computer is required, especially including greatly expanded disk space.