Professor Doug Arion has a major role in the International Year of Astronomy.

Professor Doug Arion has a major role in the International Year of Astronomy.

Putting the Stars in Plain Sight

In a year focused on raising global awareness of astronomy, Carthage physics professor Doug Arion has a starring role. He is spearheading a project to put high-quality, low-cost telescopes into the hands of people around the world, so they can see the sky up close for the first time.

The Galileoscope is the largest of 11 cornerstone projects of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, a yearlong celebration of astronomy and its contributions to society.

"The goal of the Galileoscope project is to put a quality instrument in the hands of as many people as possible, so they can actually observe the sky and get inspired," Prof. Arion said.

The telescope, about 20 inches long, has a 2-inch diameter, offers 20 and 50 magnification, is easy to assemble, and costs only $20 ($15 in orders of 100 or more).

It also offers people an opportunity to see the sky the way Galileo did 400 years ago. "You can actually put into the telescope an eyepiece that makes it operate the same way that Galileo's original telescope did, which was really pretty terrible," Prof. Arion said.

'A Carthage logo on every box'

Prof. Arion first got involved in the Galileoscope project in January 2008. "I was talking to a couple of people I know at the American Astronomical Society and they were working on the project, which was just a concept at the time," he said. "They asked me if I'd be interested in helping out with the engineering."

Arion is also the director of Carthage's ScienceWorks entrepreneurial program. "As part of the entrepreneurship program I run at Carthage, I helped set up a company in Racine that does manufacturing in China," he explained. "That's the only way we can manufacture large numbers at a low cost."

He worked with Dr. Rick Fienberg, editor emeritus of Sky & Telescope magazine, and Steve Pompea of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories to design the telescope. Merit Models in Racine, Wis., is the manufacturer.

The Galileoscope features a standard diameter eyepiece assembly, so owners can add additional commercial eyepieces if they want to. "No other inexpensive telescope does that," Prof. Arion said. "It's a pretty terrific little package — with a Carthage logo on every box."

Opening doors for astronomy students

Around 110,000 Galileoscopes have already been shipped to customers around the world, with another 70,000 ordered. "It really is a cool thing to think about making a gazillion of these and getting them into people's hands everywhere," Prof. Arion said.

It's also great for Carthage, and the College's astronomy students, he said. "It's raised our visibility as a place where you do astronomy seriously. Now Carthage is known at every international astronomy meeting, which gives us a lot of opportunities. ... We have students who are recruited to astronomy jobs because people have heard of Carthage."

In early August, Prof. Arion attended the XXVII International Astronomical Union General Assembly, where he was elected as a new member. The IAU is a group of professional astronomers from around the world; most hold Ph.D.s and all do research directly relevant to a branch of astronomy.

For more information about the Galileoscope, or to place an order, visit http://www.galileoscope.org. For more information about the Carthage Physics and Astronomy Department, click here.

Related link:
Galileoscope project continues in 2010 and beyond