Notre Dame Touts New Telescope

The University of Notre Dame says its newly-installed telescope will create a “cutting-edge” research experience. The school says the Sarah L. Krizmanich Telescope is one of the largest in the state. September 24, 2013

News Release

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame has completed installation of the new Sarah L. Krizmanich Telescope on the roof of the Jordan Hall of Science.

The telescope, which features a 0.8-meter (32-inch diameter) mirror, will be especially useful for undergraduate astronomy research. The light collecting area of the mirror makes it one of the largest telescopes in Indiana.

“Sarah had a love for teaching and a passion for helping others,” her parents, Thomas and Amy Krizmanich, said. “We hope that Sarah's memory lives on through the Notre Dame students who will use the telescope to broaden their horizons and deepen their understanding about the universe around them.”

Notre Dame has a long history with astronomical telescopes. A 6-inch aperture lens was a gift from Emperor Napoleon III to the University in 1867. It is now the objective of a 1890-era telescope housed in a modern dome atop the Nieuwland Hall of Science. Notre Dame also is a partner in the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) project in Arizona. TheLBT is the largest telescope in the world on a single mound.

The Krizmanich Telescope will provide undergraduate and graduate students with a cutting-edge astrophysics research experience combined with the convenience of remaining on campus. The Krizmanich Telescope also will be used to test new instrumentation being developed by the University's Department of Physics. Community outreach events and cooperative observing with local astronomy groups are planned.

Source: The University of Notre Dame