Learn about astronomy at our monthly meetup with members of the Western Colorado Astronomy Club. A different topic is featured monthly.

The Western Colorado Astronomy Club invites Professor Francis Chun, as he will give a talk via Skype on the US Air Force Academy's Falcon Telescope Network. Grand Mesa Observatory, located outside of Whitewater, Colorado, is now home to one of 12 telescopes that are located around the globe and are designed to study artificial satellites and the nearby universe: the Falcon Telescope Network (FTN). Developed by the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA), the FTN is composed of 12 observatories in the United States, Chile, Germany, and Australia, with a potential site in South Africa. The observatory sites were strategically selected with the main objective that once in operation, the telescopes will be capable of working together to perform simultaneous and/or continuous observations of a single object in the sky. This capability allows the observation of artificial satellites from different baselines in a wide range of orbits, continuous data acquisition of variable astronomical sources, and rapid response observations of transient phenomena that require almost immediate follow-up (gamma-ray bursts, novae, or supernovae, etc.). 

Dr. Chun's talk will also include some of the research done at USAFA on man-made satellites.   

About the presenter:
Francis Chun is a professor in the Department of Physics at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) and Director of the Center for Space Situational Awareness Research. In his 34-year Air Force career, as a military officer and government civilian, Professor Chun worked on a variety of space-related programs to include the air-launched anti-satellite weapon system and space-based infrared missile defense systems. As a physics professor, Dr. Chun has taught many general and advanced physics courses specializing in the space domain. In his current role, he leads a team of faculty and cadets conducting satellite characterization research using small telescopes and developing the U. S. Air Force Academy’s world-wide Falcon Telescope Network.