Taking Another Look to The Heavens

You might imagine that a concentration whose professors would encourage students to leave their Cambridge winter blues for a tropical view of this week's solar eclipse might be a little bit more popular, but Astronomy actually only attracts about eight new concentrators each year.

Most students at Harvard spend the majority of their time looking at books, computer screens, professors' faces, may be even the occasional glass of beer--rarely do they look up.

With the weather we've had recently, that's not surprising. But for students in the Astronomy department, looking up is a study habit.

The closest most Harvard undergrads will get to the Astronomy department is Professor Robert Kirshner's popular Science A Core, "Matter in the Universe," or one of the two other astronomy classes within the Core. But for those willing to do a little exploring, Harvard offers an array of public resources to would-be stargazers.

"[The Harvard-Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory] is the world's largest group of astronomers and astrophysicists, not just in size, but with an outstanding array of things going on out here," Professor of Astronomy Jonathan E. Grindlay says.

Grindlay, who teaches Science A-36 "Observing the Sun and Stars" along with Professor of Astronomy Robert E. Noyes, says most students are pleasantly surprised during class labs by the powerful astronomical tools at their fingertips.

"We bring [A-36 students] up here for one of the labs, but most of them don't even know that we exist here across from the Quad," Grindlay says.

Although most facilities there are used exclusively by researchers, on the third Thursday of every month at 8 p.m. the observatory does sponsor a public program using the large refraction telescope on the observatory's roof.

"It's a different topic every month, always about astronomy or astrophysics," says Megan M. Watzke, director of the "Observatory Nights" program. "It gives the public a unique chance to talk to astrophysicists and to see people who are at the top of their field."

But given Cambridge's spotty weather conditions, much of the data collection at present is being done at other University observatory locations, including Harvard's remote facility in southern Arizona.

"Most of the telescopes are here for the public," Watzke says of the University's complicated astronomical equipment.

Despite the buzz yesterday concerning the latest eclipse, astronomy in Cambridge may be on the wane--at least among undergrads. According to Watzke, the "Observatory Nights" program--which is consistently popular among Cantabridgians and Bostonians alike--attracts few students.

The telescopic lenses more commonly used by students belong to the two telescopes atop the Science Center, one of which is open to the entire student body, (after a short lesson in proper use). In addition to academic excitement, stargazing in the Science Center entails plenty of late-night rendezvous potential, making the two telescopes possibly the only romantic venue in the building.

This, in addition to the telescope's convenient location, could explain their popularity among undergrads.

"It's fun to look through a telescope," says Joshua A. Eisner '99, an Astronomy concentrator. "I know a lot of peoplewho aren't astronomy concentrators who use thetelescope on top of the Science Center."

Although Grindlay is pleased that the Astronomydepartment attracts a large number of participantsto Astronomy Cores, he notes that few of thosestudents actually consider Astronomy as apotential concentration.

"There have been students in my Core class whoI would gladly welcome into the field," Grindlaysays. "I had one such student in my class thisfall, and if Harvard gave out A pluses I certainlywould have given him one."

Grindlay says students often don't viewastronomy as effecting their individual lives orinterests. He says this, along with anunwillingness to experiment with Astronomyclasses, prevents students who would otherwisefeel at home as Astronomy concentrators from takingthe time to explore.

"Sometimes people are doing things in relatedfields, like Computer Science, who could do a lotwithin Astronomy, but aren't really aware ofthat," he says.

Grindlay describes the hesitance of students totake advantage of the rich astronomical resourcesat the College as a serious problem.

"There's a certain amount of underutilizationof Astronomy as a concentration, even if you'renot sure about going on and making a career ofastrophysics," Grindlay says. "I've usually gottwo or three undergrads working here in my lab,but it's such a powerhouse that we could really domore.

Although Grindlay is pleased that the Astronomydepartment attracts a large number of participantsto Astronomy Cores, he notes that few of thosestudents actually consider Astronomy as apotential concentration.

"There have been students in my Core class whoI would gladly welcome into the field," Grindlaysays. "I had one such student in my class thisfall, and if Harvard gave out A pluses I certainlywould have given him one."

Grindlay says students often don't viewastronomy as effecting their individual lives orinterests. He says this, along with anunwillingness to experiment with Astronomyclasses, prevents students who would otherwisefeel at home as Astronomy concentrators from takingthe time to explore.

"Sometimes people are doing things in relatedfields, like Computer Science, who could do a lotwithin Astronomy, but aren't really aware ofthat," he says.

Grindlay describes the hesitance of students totake advantage of the rich astronomical resourcesat the College as a serious problem.

"There's a certain amount of underutilizationof Astronomy as a concentration, even if you'renot sure about going on and making a career ofastrophysics," Grindlay says. "I've usually gottwo or three undergrads working here in my lab,but it's such a powerhouse that we could really domore.