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College of Science Physics Dept IPNAS |
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| Astronomical Sciences Group |
 The radio telescope on the roof of Robeson Hall. Photo by Tatsu Takeuchi. |
The IPNAS Astronomical Sciences Group is constructing a radio-telescope on the roof of
Robeson Hall.
(Shown left. From left to right: Dr. Brian Dennison, Graduate Student Phil Nelson, and Dr. John Simonetti.)
It will be utilized for both research and education when operational.
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The Group also maintains the
Virginia Tech Spectral Line Imaging Camera (SLIC)
used for the Virginia Tech Spectral-Line Survey,
and a new 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
(shown right) at the Martin Observatory.
The observatory is located at the Miles C. Horton Sr. Center, in Giles County, VA, about a 30 minute drive north-west from campus,
up toward the Mountain Lake Resort.
The 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain replaced the ageing 0.4m Newtonian Telescope in January 2007.
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 The new 14-in Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at the Martin Observatory. Installed January 2007. Photo by John Simonetti. |
 The Martin Observatory in the moonlight at night. Photo by Kristin Hendershot. |
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 The 14in Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope at the Prices Fork Observatory. Photo by Tatsu Takeuchi. |
The Prices Fork Observatory, located in Blacksburg, about a 5 minute drive west from campus, also
houses a 14-inch (36 cm) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (shown left) which is used exclusively for
outreach
and by the student astronomy club.
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 The Prices Fork Observatory near campus. Photo by Tatsu Takeuchi. |
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 The ETA core array at the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute in NC. |
The group is also constructing an antenna array designed to continuously monitor virtually the entire northern sky for short bursts of radio emission (radio transients) from high-energy astrophysical phenomena, potentially including gamma ray bursts, supernovae, mergers of compact objects, the explosion of primordial black holes, and giant pulses from pulsars. The project is call ETA for "Eight-meter-wavelength Transient Array." The array is being constructed at a remote site in western North Carolina, about a 5 hour drive from campus. The ETA website contains more details on the project. |
| Experimental Nuclear & Particle Physics Group | |
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The IPNAS Experimental Nuclear & Particle Physics Group maintains a Clean Room in
Robeson Hall, room 10.
It is used to manufacture various components that go into the detectors used by the group.
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