Hartwick College Reaches for the Stars
For years, Hartwick College students have benefited from access to some of the world’s most prestigious telescopes, including the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico and the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia. Parker Troischt, professor of physics, astronomy and planetary sciences and department chair, is committed to ensuring these extraordinary opportunities continue for generations to come.
Professor Parker Troischt and physics major Oliver Forsha ’27 are seen here at the Green Bank Telescope in the National Radio Quiet Zone in West Virginia. This past June they went to the world’s largest steerable radio dish as part of a team to conduct research using supernova explosions to improve extragalactic distance measurements.
Troischt was one of just ten representatives from small colleges invited to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Community Workshop held July 22-26, 2024, at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. The observatory, named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who provided early evidence of dark matter, is a new facility under construction on the Cerro Pachón mountain in central Chile.
“This telescope is special because it has the best camera ever built and one single image will take about 1,500 high-definition TVs to see in detail,” Troischt said. “Once it’s operational, it will greatly expand the research conducted by the Undergraduate ALFALFA Team I am a part of.”
This team, a collaboration of around 20 universities and colleges, has been funded by the National Science Foundation for over 15 years. The funding has supported observatory trips, annual science workshops, conference attendance and summer research stipends for students.
“This is another incredible opportunity for our students to work with the world’s best telescope. I’m always looking for the next project to involve Hartwick in major scientific research, which could provide a decade of research projects.”
Parker Troischt
Professor of Physics, Astronomy and Planetary Sciences and Department Chair
