The observatory 50 miles west of Grand Forks near Inkster, N.D. will be the home of a new telescope donated by UND alumnus Erwin Martens. Photo by Chester Beltowski/The Dakota Student.

On Friday, the Physics and Astrophysics departments held a ceremony at the Gorecki Alumni Center to celebrate their fully operational telescope donated by UND alumnus Erwin Martens.

Martens, who holds a mater’s degree in economics, donated the telescope in the name of the astronomy professor that he had while he attended UND.

“His name was Olen Kraus, and he was an amazing professor. He wore crazy ties and was very animated and Einstein-like,” Martens said. “I wanted to link (the telescope) back to the person who inspired me as a sort of historical continuity. I really loved his class but remembered that we didn’t have a telescope, so I wanted to make an advance in the department by donating it.”

The Martens-Kraus telescope  and its mount weigh close to 450 pounds and both are controllable over the Internet.

“The telescope is powerful enough to do very serious work,” Martens said.

The telescope is located in the Martens Observatory, a 15-ft. moveable dome that has an opening for the telescope’s lens.

“Located 50 miles northwest of Grand Forks, the Forest River field biology station near Inkster, N.D., offered the darkest skies among all of the land that UND owns,” Associate Professor Timothy Young said.

Young, who teaches in the physics and astrophysics department, was appointed the director of the telescope’s operations.

“This is where we chose to place the next generation UND observatories,” Young said. “Dark skies are crucial to conducting astronomical observations, without it much of the universe is lost to bright city lights.”

While many other observatories are being put at a disadvantage by light pollution, North Dakota has clearer skies, making it an ideal spot for an observatory, according to Young.

“North Dakota, with its low population, is prime for having dark skies. You just have to find them,” he said.

Students will be able to benefit from not only using the telescope, but also from the data it will collect.

Graduate students will be involved in research in observing astronomical objects such as supernovae and extra-solar transiting planets through the telescope.

The telescope will be especially beneficial to physics and astrophysics majors.

However, the telescope is by no means limited to those majors. Martens said he hopes that different faculties can use the telescope.

“Michael Wittgraf from the music department plans to compose scores to imagery taken by the telescope,” Martens said.

Martens also hopes his act of donating the telescope will inspire students in any department to think about what they don’t have at the university and that in the future maybe they also will make donations that will advance the capabilities of the university.

There will be an open house in the spring where people can come see the telescope with a chance to look the stars.

Adele Kieger is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].