Hobby-Eberly Telescope to be Rededicated
Doug Cavener, Verne M. Willaman Dean for the Eberly College of Science, will be joined by Penn State president Eric Barron along with delegates from the University of Texas to re- dedicate the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) for its twenty-year anniversary on Sunday, April 9, 2017.
Designed by Larry Ramsey, distinguished senior scholar and professor of astronomy at Penn State, HET is one of the world's largest optical telescopes. HET was designed specifically for spectroscopy, the decoding of light from stars and galaxies to study their properties, which makes it ideal in searching for planets around other stars and studying distant galaxies, exploding stars, black holes, and more.
Originally dedicated in 1997, the HET is co- owned by the University of Texas at Austin, Penn State, Universität München, and Universität Göttingen, and is located at the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Texas. Scientists using the HET for research have published nearly 300 research papers since the beginnings of the telescope until 2013, when it was taken out of service to begin the $30 million upgrades.
These upgrades include new scientific equipment that has been built and installed over the last two years. The improvements will modify the telescope for the upcoming Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). The addition of 150 integral field spectrographs, mounted to the sides of the main framework, will give the HET the ability to map the expansion rate of the early universe, looking back in time billions of years, to measure how clusters of galaxies moved in relation to one another as the universe evolved.
The rededication will be held at the visitor’s center at the McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Texas. If you are interested in joining us or learning more information, please contact the Alumni Relations and Development Office at 800-297-1429.