The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) was established in 1890 as research unit of the Smithsonian Institution concentrating on studies of solar radiance. Sixty-five years later, SAO assumed responsibility for establishing an optical network for tracking the first artificial satellites. From this pioneering effort, the size and scope of SAO grew with the international space program to include major research in virtually all branches of astrophysics, as well as in areas of earth and planetary sciences.
Since 1955, when its headquarters moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, SAO has pursued such research in close collaboration with the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) and Harvard University Department of Astronomy. On July 1, 1973, the Smithsonian Institution and Harvard University formalized their collaboration now known as the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) to coordinate the related research activities of the two observatories under a single director. To
April 12th, 2021, 9:32AM / BY Samantha Thompson
Vera Rubin and Kent Ford (white hat) setting up their image tube spectrograph at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. (Photo: THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE)
In March 2020, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory sat partially erected, perched on Chile’s Cerro Pachón in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. The Observatory had halted construction of the 8.4-meter telescope and its associated buildings due to the coronavirus pandemic. By October 2020, with safety precautions in place, construction teams began to slowly return to the mountain. Earlier this month, just one year after its unexpected closure, the Rubin Observatory reached a major milestone when crew used a crane to lower the top end of the telescope, weighing approximately 28 tons and measuring 10 meters in diameter, through the observatory’s open dome and into its place on the telescope. This was one of the last remaining heavy pieces to be
Former Harvard Astronomy professor and Adams House Master William Liller â48 couldnât take his eyes off the stars.
In the early 1970s, Liller could be found early in the morning at Harvard College Observatory measuring the sizes of stars, putting in âmore than his share of the workâ each day to aid his graduate students, according to William R. Forman, one of Lillerâs Ph.D. advisees.
âYou would get there at 10 ⦠and there would be this long list of plates that heâd already been through,â Forman said. âHe was not there yelling at us, âYou got to do more.â No, he was just showing us that he was doing it, and we better get to work.â
Scene Briefs, March 17 jhnewsandguide.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jhnewsandguide.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Supermassive black hole wanders through space
Now astronomers have detected a highly unusual case of one wandering through space.
Astronomers previously believed it was possible for supermassive black holes to be actively on the move, but it has been difficult to gather evidence for that theory - until now.
The study was published on Friday in The Astrophysical Journal.
Dominic Pesce, astronomer at The Centre for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, has worked with collaborating scientists to observe 10 distant galaxies and the supermassive black hole at the centre of each system over the last five years.
The Centre for Astrophysics is a collaborative research effort that combines the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.