1970

RC helped fund Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory.

In 1969, University of Massachusetts designated about 20 acres as the site of the Five College (Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, University of Massachusetts and Hampshire College) Radio Astronomy Observatory. When completed, the Observatory would house 32 antennas, associated electronics, and small laboratory buildings.

The initial telescope was a customized low-frequency antenna to search for pulsars in the galaxy. In 1976, the original telescope was superseded by a 14-m diameter antenna within a structural, weatherproof enclosure for use at high radio frequencies (mm wavelengths), built primarily to study the physics and chemistry of interstellar clouds, circumstellar envelopes, planetary atmospheres and comets.

In “Reflections on the Growth of Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts and the Five College Astronomy Department” author William M. Irvine noted, “That fall (1970) the private Research Corporation granted $73,000 to [G. Richard] Huguenin and newly hired radio astronomer Joseph Taylor for their research on pulsars (at the time one of the largest grants the Research Corporation had ever made).”

In 1974, Taylor and Russell Hulse discovered the binary pulsar system PSR B1913+16, a finding that created new possibilities for the study of gravitation. In honor of their discovery, both received Nobel Prizes in physics in 1993.

The Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory’s website states: “From its inception, the Observatory has emphasized pioneering research, the development of state-of-the-art technology and the training of students—both graduate and undergraduate.”