ISU leads network of telescopes

Iowa State University is now the international headquarters for what’s called the Whole Earth Telescope. I-S-U physics & astronomy professor Steve Kawaler directs the project, which is a network of 22 huge telescopes around the planet.Kawaler says the many telescopes all train their big lenses on one object in space and view it continuously from their 22 distant vantage points encircling the globe. He says the usual subjects of their studies are stars.I-S-U recently received a 220-thousand dollar grant from the U-S National Science Foundation to put the facility on firm ground. Kawaler says since the Whole Earth Telescope actually involves 22 telescopes around the earth, it’s a very expensive system to run.While there is no observatory being used for the Whole Earth Telescope located in Ames, Kawaler says there is a fine research observatory in Boone.