FALL 2024 | TOWER 5 Like the brightest stars in Orion’s belt, good things come in threes. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the naming of the Carlson R. Chambliss Astronomical Observatory, as well as the end of a once-in-a-lifetime student research program and the beginning of a planetarium renovation that will benefit all future stargazers. Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss A professor emeritus of physical sciences, Chambliss first joined the KU faculty in 1970 and served as an astronomy professor for 33 years. A member of the American Astronomical Society and International Astronomical Union, Chambliss has been an advocate for research opportunities at the university for more than a half-century. “We have tremendous possibilities at Kutztown, more so than many places,” says Chambliss. “We’ve held two national amateur astronomy conventions here and have had some really good astronomy students over the years.” From initiating the Chambliss Awards that recognize the highest achievement in scholarship for faculty and students to establishing the C.R. Chambliss Scholarship, which provides financial support to physical sciences students, Chambliss believes in the power of giving back to progress forward. Even after his retirement in 2003, Chambliss has given back to the university in ways that have helped students and faculty pursue beneficial research opportunities. In 2018, the KU astrophysics group was in the middle of a $113,000 research project, funded by the National Science Foundation. They were working with the exoplanet discovery project Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope when the observatory’s dome stopped working. Chambliss donated the funds to purchase a new dome, and in 2019, the university officially named the observatory after him. Now, the observatory continues to have a profound impact on the research community. Located at the top of Grim Science Building, the observatory, originally called the Gruber-Knedler Planetarium and Observatory, was built in the 1960s and first introduced to the world by Chambliss himself in a 1971 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine. In the article, Chambliss explains how KU’s astronomy program grew significantly after the observatory and planetarium were completed. Building community Dr. Phill Reed ’03, (pictured at left), professor of physics and astronomy at KU is currently the planetarium and observatory director and one of Chambliss’ biggest supporters and closest friends. A member of the TESS Follow-up Observing Program, a large working group for NASA, Reed is adamant about including observatory and planetarium research in his curriculum. Students in Reed’s astronomy courses, like his 200-level course on exoplanets, are guaranteed opportunities for hands-on observatory and planetarium research experience, such as helping Reed discover new exoplanets. In fact, Reed and 16 students have discovered 29 exoplanets at the Chambliss Observatory, resulting in 15 publications. One is the exoplanet named KELT-23Ab, a planet 408 lightyears from Earth. Like Chambliss, Reed understands the powerful role that the observatory and planetarium play in helping students evolve as researchers as well as bringing together the local community. Faculty outside the physics department, such as art and photography, have even incorporated observatory research into their lectures. They’ve used the observatory for astrophotography projects, which is a creative experience that allows students to capture photos of stars, planets and other galaxies, while computer science majors continue to use the planetarium to display their final projects. This was an amazing research opportunity ... to help find exoplanets with our on-campus observatory, and to then spend the summer in Australia working with cutting-edge astronomical instrumentation. – DR. PHILL REED ’03 Dr. Carlson R. Chambliss
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