Greenbush Observatory
Greenbush Observatory is a part of the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center located approximately eight miles west of Girard, KS on highway 57. To get there from Pittsburg, KS, take 69 highway North to 57 West, and continue past Girard. The observatory will be on your left. The following is from an interview with Dr. David Kuehn of Pittsburg State University, conducted by Alan Clement in October 2000.
The [Greenbush]* observatory was completed in September of 1996. The building cost about $200,000 to construct, and is owned by the SEK [Southeast Kansas] Education Service Center. The funds were provided by a generous donation of the Craw-Kan Telephone Cooperative and the thirty-six participating school districts. The telescope and associated instruments cost $35,000, and [are] owned by the State of Kansas (through the Department of Physics at PSU [Pittsburg State University]).
The telescope is a classical Cassegrain. That is, it has a large primary mirror --sixty-one cm in diameter-- with a fifteen cm hole cut in the center of it. The light from the primary [mirror] is reflected up to a secondary mirror that is about twenty cm in diameter, and then this light passes through the hole in the primary mirror and on to the eyepiece of the instrument. "We" wanted a telescope like this because reflecting telescopes focus images without affecting the apparent color. All large modern telescopes are reflecting telescopes. A further reason for PSU acquiring the telescope was that we were able to get it for about one tenth the cost of a new telescope of this size.
The telescope was previously owned by the Astronomy Department at New Mexico State University. It was located about forty miles northwest of Las Cruces, New Mexico on a flat-topped mountain known as Blue Mesa. The land was owned by the federal government and was leased to the Astronomy Department. The Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration requested the land to be used for a radar installation for detection of low-altitude aircraft entering the country from the south. The Astronomy Department then had to move or sell the telescope to make room for this radar installation. PSU was able to purchase and move the telescope to Pittsburg in November 1993.
In terms of total numbers of hours in operation, the telescope is mostly used for teaching purposes; [however], a regular monthly viewing program has been set up which was not present before. The facility is handicap accessible, unlike the former PSU facility [in] Russ Hall. The larger instrument allows the viewing of fainter objects. The other ancillary telescopes and binoculars available at the observatory allow for more people to get their hands on optical instruments for a longer period of time. Students and teachers of the participating school districts are offered programs in astronomy and space science that were not available before.
Programs for the public are held once per month on the Friday closest to first quarter moon. Schools and private organizations (like Boy Scouts) can call for private programs at any time. There are summer programs in astronomy and space science as well as programs available for private groups, clubs, and classrooms. During the school year, there are about two nighttime programs per week for local schools. Daytime programs are also held. Andra Bryan is the Abernathy Science Center Program Coordinator [and] schedules programs for the observatory. [The number of people served by the observatory per year is] in the several thousands.
The cooperative agreement between Education Service Center at Greenbush and PSU's Physics Department dictates that we (PSU) will allow the telescope to be used for teaching purposes if we are allowed to use the building to house the telescope. PSU's Physics Department uses the facility for teaching in several classes that have astronomy content. The facility is used for student projects at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Further, the telescope is used by Kuehn for professional research purposes.
Dr. David M. Kuehn is the scientific and technical advisor for the programs at the observatory and is responsible for the telescope, instruments, and supporting software. He is PSU's liaison on all matters concerning telescope operation and training. The observatory is open to the public Friday nights closest to 1st quarter moon. The exact schedule is posted on the observatory web site through Greenbush (http://www.greenbush.org).
*[ ] indicates words of the author of this page, not those of the original source
This oral history was prepared by Alan Clement, Spring 2001