Multi-Purpose Observatory for Undergraduate Education

RIT正在校园内建立一个自动化天文台，用于非理科学生、物理专业和成像科学专业的本科生教学。天文台配备了用于视觉、光度和CCD成像的设备，它可以手动操作，也可以通过位于校园周围的各种讲堂和实验室的实时计算机控制进行操作。它还将能够进行机器人控制，以最大限度地利用与高级课程相关的项目，在这些项目中需要额外的学生研究设施。对自动化(与传统)设施的具体选择是为大量本科生带来足够多种类的望远镜观测这一“艰巨”任务的关键。机器人的能力也与全国范围内通过天文学加强科学教育的努力相一致。

RIT is establishing an automated observatory on the campus for use in undergraduate instruction of non-science students, Physics majors, and Imaging Science majors. The observatory is equipped for visual, photometric, and CCD imaging use, and it can be operated manually or through real-time computer control from various lecture and laboratory rooms located about campus. It will also be capable of robotic control to maximize its use for projects associated with the upper-division courses where there is a need for an additional student research facility. The specific choice of an automated (versus conventional) facility is a key to the "Herculean" task of bringing telescopic observations of a sufficient variety to large numbers of undergraduates. The robotic capabilities are also in concert with a nationwide effort to enhance science education through astronomy.