The Role of Small Telescopes
in Modern Astronomy

The First Annual
Lowell Observatory Fall Workshop

The First Annual Lowell Observatory Fall Workshop was held in Flagstaff, October 14-15, 1996. The topic for this workshop was The Role of Small Telescopes in Modern Astronomy. The Welcome and Opening Remarks were given by Bill Putnam (Trustee) and Bob Millis from the Lowell Observatory and Hugh Van Horn from the National Science Foundation.

Abstracts of oral and poster papers presented at this meeting are provided on these pages. The oral program consisted of invited and contributed talks divided into 4 main categories as listed below. A panel discussion followed the talks.

• The Role of Small Telescopes in Research
• Small Telescopes in Research and Education
• The Role of Small Telescopes in Education
• Modern Modes of Operating and Using Small Telescopes

• Poster Papers

The NASTeC site has additional information about small-to-intermediate size telescopes. Also see the program for the NOAO Small Telescopes Workshop to be held in Toronto in January as an extra session of the AAS meeting.

The Role of Small Telescopes in the Study of Young Stellar Clusters, Star Formation, etc. (Invited), Lynn Hillenbrand (University of California, Berkeley)

Massive Searches of Variable Objects (Invited), Bohdan Paczynski (Princeton University)

The Macho Project: Revealing Galactic Dark Matter and Surveying the Time Domain in Astronomy with a 50-inch Telescope (Invited), Kem Cook (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory)

Session 3 - Moderator: Bob Howell (University of Wyoming)

Time vs. Aperture: Examples and Reflections (Invited), Wes Lockwood (Lowell Observatory)

Cometary Impacts by Small Telescopes (Invited), Mike A'Hearn (University of Maryland)

Planetary Astronomy (sans comets) with Small Telescopes (Invited), Jim Elliot (MIT)

Role of Small Telescopes in Planetary Astronomy Research (Mars, Moon, etc.), Jim Bell (Cornell University)

Small Telescopes in Research and Education

The Role of Small Telescopes in Education

Amateurs and Mentors, Leif J. Robinson (Sky and Telescope)

Research and Education are Symbiotic Stars at Astronomy Camp (Invited), Don McCarthy (University of Arizona)

The Impact of the Van Vleck Observatory 0.6-M Telescope on Astronomy Education at Wesleyan University (Invited), Bill Herbst (Wesleyan University)

The National Undergraduate Research Observatory: A Successful Model for Training Undergraduates (Invited), Kathy Degioia Eastwood (Northern Arizona University)

Modern Modes of Operating and Using Small Telescopes

Back to the Future: The Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA) Observatory at Kitt Peak and the Future of Small Telescopes at National Sites (Invited), Terry Oswalt (Florida Institute of Technology)

Unattended Automation as an Option for the Operation of Small Research Telescopes (Invited), Kent Honeycutt (Indiana University)

Session 7 - Moderator: Tom Barnes (University of Texas)

The Economics of Automatic Telescopes, Joel Eaton (Tennessee State University)

IR on Small NOAO Telescopes: Science Programs and User Profiles, Ron Probst (NOAO/CTIO)

The New 0.8-m Observatory at Vassar College, Debra Elmegreen (Vassar College)

The Global Network of Astronomical Telescopes, Eric Craine (GNAT, Inc.)

The Center for Backyard Astrophysics: A World Network of Small Telescopes, Joe Patterson (Columbia University)

High-Resolution Spectrophotometry: A Unique Capability of Small Telescopes, William Bruce Weaver (MIRA)

An Advanced Laboratory for Optical Astronomy, Jim Houck (Cornell University)

Small Telescopes: Their Importance to Research and Future Generations of Astronomers (Invited), John Huchra (Harvard/CFA)