The Adolphson Observatory at Monmouth College has a new telescope for students and staff to utilize for research and studies.The college’s Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Tim Keefauver says it is the largest telescope in the state. According to a press release, it is twice as bright and has the same magnifying power as the telescope at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.
Keefauver tells WGIL that students will be able to search and discover near-Earth objects such as asteroids and even take measurements.
“It will allow them to do such things as look for near-Earth objects, that would be like asteroids and the like. They can search for these, they could possibly even discover new ones,” says Keefauver. “Also, the telescope is very good about having a flat field of view, so you can make measurements within the telescope’s field of view and that would be a good way to also discover new objects, for example. Not just objects within the solar system, it’s possible to have objects that have entered in from outside of the solar system that they can also discover.”
Keffauver says in addition to students and staff, the public will have a chance to take a look through the telescope a few times in September, but no dates have been released yet.
