A total of 482 students took Descriptive Astronomy , Introductory Observational Astronomy , Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Interstellar Travel , Frontiers in Astronomy, Cosmology , Astronomical Imaging and Special Studies. Cominsky developed a new version of the Cosmology course, which was offered during the Spring 2000 semester. Quarks to the Cosmos web site. The Department awarded 3 B.A. degrees and 3 B.S. degrees in Physics. There were 43 physics majors in Spring 2000.
Newtonian telescope is computer-controlled.
The system points reliably to within 1-2 arcminutes on the sky. Reliable photometry is feasible for objects as faint as 16th magnitude. The Observatory has recently been substantially upgraded because of a series of important contributions. These contributions include two Pentium class computers, a Power Macintosh, and an ST-7 CCD camera with a rotating filter wheel. The new CCD system is now installed on the Epoch Instruments computer controlled telescope and was used for classes and research projects in the spring.