Keeping Their Eyes on the Skies
By Terry Devitt '78, MA'85

On this mountain, one particular telescope is considered special. Called WIYN to acknowledge Wisconsin, Indiana University, Yale, and NOAO — the consortium that built it — it is the newest, most advanced research observatory in the neighborhood. Completed in 1994, it has capabilities that, like a finely crafted sports car, enable its drivers to leave the competition in the proverbial dust. In an age when astronomical telescopes are swelling in size, this compact version, with its 3.5-meter primary mirror, is considered by many to be the finest optical telescope in the U.S. outside of Hawaii, where 10-meter megatelescopes rule the night sky.

As with most major observatories, building WIYN required a partnership to make it affordable. Participating in this consortium was an important step along the path UW-Madison has taken to ensure telescope time for its researchers and graduate students. The very first venture into an astronomy program was Washburn Observatory, built in 1878 with a gift from former Governor Cadwallader Washburn. Originally surrounded by orchards and a vineyard, the observatory is now flanked by a childcare center, Agricultural Hall, and Observatory Drive.

The observatory has seen its share of major accomplishments, including pioneering photoelectric astronomy, a measurement of our galaxy that was widely accepted for five decades.

Two newer observatories — WIYN and one fifteen miles west of Madison at Pine Bluff — have added state-of-the-art equipment to view stars, galaxies, and other cosmological wonders. And the next acquisition, which involves a global partnership among institutions from South Africa, Germany, Poland, New Zealand, and the United States, promises to be just as stellar.

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