Curated Texan
In An Exclusive, Here’s How The Former Director Explores The Universe
By Rose Betty Williams Photography courtesy of Rose Betty Williams
Little Stars, Big Stars, Billions Of Them Make Up The Galaxies Of The Universe
Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are? Former Director of the McDonald Observatory, Dr. Frank N. Bash, has devoted most of his life to their study. He has been researching how stars form in the Milky Way and other spiral galaxies.
“When you look at the night sky, you see blue spiral bands,” shares Dr. Frank N. Bash. “One billion stars make up that blue fuzzy spiral light. We’re trying to find out what caused those spiral bands to form. We’re striving to find a connection between the density wave theory, which is a mechanical picture of how a galaxy works, and the process of how stars are formed.“
“That connection can be described this way,” he goes on to say. “When the density wave travels through the galaxy, it squeezes clouds of gas. That squeezing in turn stimulates the clouds to give birth to stars. “
Has Bash always been interested in astronomy? Bash chuckled. “I’m from Oregon. I went to Willamette University, a small liberal arts school in Salem, Oregon. I majored in physics and minored in art history. That would be very difficult, if not impossible, to do today, but in a small school environment, there’s often a better chance to explore different career and study options and take a wide range of subjects. It was during my senior year that one of my physics professors introduced me to astronomy. He was an amateur astronomer, and he used his home telescope to look at the stars.”
That Introduction Began A Study Of Astronomy In Earnest. Bash Applied And Was Accepted To The Graduate School Of Astronomy At Harvard University
“During my freshman year at Harvard, I was a teaching assistant. I was grading the papers of undergraduate astronomy students, having never taken an astronomy course myself until that year. It was difficult. Many of the freshmen were pre-med majors, and anything less than a perfect score on their papers made me think my life was not safe. They would challenge me and demand explanations.“
Bash successfully met those challenges, got his master’s degree from Harvard in 1962, and accepted a research position with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. He studied radio astronomy.
“Radio astronomy,” he explained, “ is different from light astronomy. When stars die, they produce dust. The galaxy is full of dust, and light does not travel well through the dust, but radio waves do. A radio telescope doesn’t look at light. It looks at radio waves.”
In 1964, Bash moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, the headquarters of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. While working at the observatory, he studied at the University of Virginia. He received a doctoral degree from Virginia in 1967. It was then that Bash decided he wanted an academic position rather than a primarily research one.
Bash was hired as a faculty associate in the astronomy department at the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to Austin in 1967. In 1969, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas as an assistant professor. Four years later, he became an associate professor, and in 1981, a full professor at UT.
He served as chairman of the Department of Astronomy from 1982 until 1986. In 1985, he was named the Frank N. Edmonds Regents Professor of Astronomy at UT. Bash won many awards for the quality of his teaching, including induction into the Teaching Excellence Hall of Fame at UT in 1984.
Bash’s Relationship With The McDonald Observatory, University Of Texas, Began In 1989
He was the interim director for three years, then became the observatory director in 1991. As director, Bash led the effort to design, fund, and construct the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, Texas.
The HET is one of a new generation of telescopes that take astronomy into the 21st century and beyond. The HET’s 11-meter (432-inch) primary mirror was the largest in the world in 1991, yet the telescope’s innovative design cost only $13.5 million to build. This was about 15% of the cost of comparable-sized telescopes at that time.
According to the HET Dedication News, a joint news release from UT Austin, Pennsylvania State University, Stanford University, Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München, and Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, the HET is the first modern large optical telescope ever designed and built to be optimized for spectroscopic surveys of the sky.
“Based on a modification of the concept used in the large radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, the HET has a primary mirror that does not move up and down from the horizon to the zenith to track stars as they move across the sky, as the mirrors of most telescopes do. Supporting the weight of a giant mirror and steering it to the extremely precise tolerances required to track faint objects in the night sky can be done, but it requires heavy, expensive, specialized equipment. By comparison, the HET is set up to point to a given area of the sky before observation. A much lighter tracker assembly mounted at the top of the telescope above the primary mirror then moves to track the astronomical object being observed. Exposure times on a given object of up to two and a half hours are possible,” Bash said.
The primary mirror of the HET is composed of 91 identical, hexagonal mirrors held together by a tubular frame constructed by robots in Germany. “Because Mero Structures uses robots to manufacture tubular frames on a commercial basis, Mero was able to give us a much lower cost estimate for building the frame for the HET mirrors,” Bash explained.
“The same sort of framework can be seen on the ceiling of what was formerly Northcross Mall in Austin, or at the Bell County Exposition Center, or even the Munich, Germany Airport, although Mero manufactured none of these,“ added Bash.
The light-gathering power of large telescopes is determined by the area of their primary mirrors. The HET can gather light from objects that are up to 100 million times fainter than the unaided eye can see.
The HET is housed in an 86-foot-diameter white dome that reaches 106 feet above ground level. “That dome,” said Bash, “ like the frame which holds the mirrors, was constructed very cost-effectively, also by robots, but this time by a company in Los Angeles.“
Bash indicated that both the frame and the dome were constructed at their respective factories, taken apart like Tinkertoys, put in shipping crates, sent to Fort Davis, and reassembled at the McDonald Observatory. Bash further emphasized that the HET is a prototype in design and construction. “In terms of the national picture, there is considerable interest in building a telescope 10 times bigger than the HET. We are currently (in1999) looking at a site on a high mountain in northern Chile.”
Bash Said That The HET Is An Important Part Of The McDonald Observatory
“Astronomers can measure the chemical compositions of stars that were too distant to study previously, search for planets in orbit around distant stars, identify and measure activity on the surfaces of the stars, learn more about the dark matter located around galaxies, and refine theories about star formation and evolution. Utilizing a technique called spectroscopy, which measures and analyzes the individual wavelengths of light, the HET enables astronomers to get detailed information about the composition, structure, temperature, and motion of stars, galaxies, and other astronomical objects.
In 1999, when asked if the directorship of the McDonald Observatory had taken time away from his research with radio astronomy, Bash answered, “That’s one of the ironies of life. Most of the work at McDonald Observatory uses spectroscopy. Also, as director, I do not have much time for research. My efforts, along with those of the university, are to give Texans greater ownership of what we do. Public outreach is central to the support we receive for our economy. The Texas economy, as well as the national economy, used to depend on natural resources. No more. The economy is increasingly reliant on high tech, and the technical attainment level of our youth is declining. We have to find ways to develop competencies and foster interest and excitement in mathematics and science.“
Bash is gratified that their efforts have been successful. The McDonald Observatory and the now-named Frank N. Bash Visitor Center are open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, but it is important to check the website to confirm days and times of operation.
The Visitor Center Was Created In 1980
It’s ranked among the most popular tourist attractions in Texas. There are guided tours, self-guided tours, star parties, public viewing nights, and private programs. Bash noted that Spring Break is when the most people come to the observatory.
“In 1999, we had a really exciting star party. “The Soviet Space Station Mir crossed the sky not too long after sunset. Those one and a half minutes were thrilling for everyone!”
He added that one of his favorite activities for visitors at the observatory is the constellation lecture. He said the planets and stars are identified, and the mythology behind the constellations is told. “With eight telescopes available, star and planet gazing is easy and fun for visitors.”
He considers one of his major contributions to the observatory his ability to cultivate interest in science and math and to build on the enthusiasm of those who share his vision for broader outreach.
A view near McDonald Observatory
Dr. Frank N. Bash is a stargazer and a trailblazer. He knows the stars, and they have a message for him that he shares with university forums, astronomy conferences, school classrooms, and people of all ages. Bash makes science and math, particularly astronomy, accessible and interesting. He’s a brilliant student, teacher, scholar, and friend to anyone who wants to talk about dark energy, dark matter, dark skies, the stars, and shares his fascination and love of astronomy.
