Physics professor gets time with Hubble

By Stacey Joyner

Interested Fresno State students will soon have an opportunity to use what NASA describes as having the ability “to unlock the secrets of the Universe,” the Hubble Space Telescope.

The Space Telescope Science Institute (STSI) recently awarded Dr. Frederick Ringwald, assistant professor of physics, a new project with the Hubble Space Telescope. Ringwald will be working with a colleague at Harvard on this project and is looking for a team of faculty and students to participate.

Hubble, a large astronomical telescope built into a satellite, orbits 600 kilometers above Earth and operates 24 hours a day to transmit images of various universal events. In March 2000, NASA-documented-Hubble created a data archive capable of filling 3,650 personal computers.

“ Hubble time is very competitive,” Ringwald said.

Ringwald and his colleague submitted a project proposal to the STSI in Baltimore, Md., which receives about six more proposals than they have available Hubble time to award.

“ If they (STSI) like it, you fill out a Web-based form describing your design of observations, and it goes from there,” Ringwald said.

The research derived from this project could mean many good things for the Physical Science Department and participating students.

“ What we want is really good data and what we hope to get is really great grant money. We like the data and we love the grants,” Ringwald said.

Ringwald said he hoped any grant money resulting from the project could be directed toward better camera equipment within their department. He also said these funds could provide opportunities for students within the department to visit observatories such as Mauna Kea in Hawaii, which houses Keck I, the largest telescope on Earth.

“ More important than the grant money is the opportunity for students,” Ringwald said.

“ Students can attend Fresno State, use our humble little observatory and go home and tell their parents they’re working on the Hubble Telescope Space Project, and it’s true.”

Ringwald explained the STSI would not have provided the telescope time “if they did not think that what his team was doing would not be published in peer-review science journals.”

He said some students should be interested to know that one thing graduate schools like to see is that they’ve been published.

The project is focused on magnetism in cataclysmic stars, which is a star that has an outburst or big explosion.

Participating students and faculty will be observing two target stars, AM Herculis and AR Ursa Majoris, to see if and when they become faint or lose brightness.

Ringwald described this project as “working on a small problem so that one day you’re in the position and have the insight to solve the big problem.”

He said the small problem in this case is magnetism in stars, and the big problem involves predicting solar activity.

Ringwald said he expects the project to begin immediately after finals. He said any interested students are encouraged to contact him, but he strongly encourages students to have taken Physical Science 121 or “risk extreme frustration.” Ringwald can be contacted at 278-8426.