September 13, Indy Rotary: Brian Murphy, Holcomb Observatory

The New and Improved Holcomb Telescope

The Holcomb Observatory at Butler University is putting the finishing touches on a $450,000 refurbishment of Indiana’s largest telescope.  These improvements were funded by a generous donation from Butler physics graduate Dr. Frank Levinson (’74).  The Holcomb Telescope is now a vastly improved version of its old self and is remotely operable and used by Butler students and faculty for research from anywhere in the world.  In this presentation Brian Murphy will give a bit of history of the observatory, explain the improvements to the telescope, and describe the outreach at Butler University and the research programs at Holcomb Observatory. In addition to the Holcomb Telescope, Butler has also been part of the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) telescope consortium. Murphy will describe the mission of SARA consortium and explain how the Holcomb Telescope dovetails with this consortium that allows the remote operation of three other 1-meter class telescopes located on three continents.

Brian Murphy has served as chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy for nearly eight years and as director of Holcomb Observatory and Planetarium throughout his 20 years at Butler. In 2012, Murphy received the University Award for Distinguished Research, Scholarship, or Creative Work which is the highest accolade a faculty member can receive that honors her or his body of substantial scholarly achievement accomplished as a faculty member of Butler University.