| |
| |
|
|
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The 400th birthday of modern astronomy is being |
|
|
marked in 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy, and this |
|
|
worldwide celebration represents a fine opportunity to pay tribute |
|
|
to the Lone Star State's leadership in astronomical research; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, In 1609, the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei |
|
|
first used a telescope to study the skies, and that same year, the |
|
|
German astronomer Johannes Kepler published his famous laws of |
|
|
planetary motion in the book Astronomia Nova; sponsored by the |
|
|
International Astronomical Union and UNESCO, the International |
|
|
Year of Astronomy 2009 commemorates these revolutionary |
|
|
developments with activities and events around the globe; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Located in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, the |
|
|
McDonald Observatory of The University of Texas at Austin is one of |
|
|
the world's leading centers for astronomical research and |
|
|
education; its research instruments include the Hobby-Eberly |
|
|
Telescope, one of the world's largest optical telescopes, with a |
|
|
433-inch mirror; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The Observatory Visitors Center delights and |
|
|
informs 100,000 people a year with its exhibits, tours, and star |
|
|
parties; the observatory also produces the nationally syndicated |
|
|
StarDate and Universo radio programs and websites, bringing the |
|
|
latest in scientific research to audiences in English and Spanish; |
|
|
and |
|
|
WHEREAS, During the IYA 2009, The University of Texas at |
|
|
Austin and Texas A&M are collaborating on the development of the |
|
|
Giant Magellan Telescope, one of the world's largest new |
|
|
telescopes; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, McDonald Observatory and the physics department of |
|
|
Texas A&M University are beginning to work with several other |
|
|
institutions on a groundbreaking study of dark energy, which has |
|
|
been called "the central problem for physics" by Nobel laureate and |
|
|
UT professor Steven Weinberg; representing 70 percent of the total |
|
|
energy in the universe, dark energy is the mysterious force causing |
|
|
the expansion of the cosmos to accelerate; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment, |
|
|
or HETDEX, will use the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and the new VIRUS |
|
|
spectrograph, developed and constructed by UT and Texas A&M, to map |
|
|
the three-dimensional positions of one million galaxies over three |
|
|
years, providing scientists with important clues to the nature of |
|
|
dark energy; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The study of dark energy represents a revolution in |
|
|
the science of astronomy, and it is most fitting that in this |
|
|
anniversary year of historic scientific achievement, two of the |
|
|
premier research institutions in Texas are working together in the |
|
|
pioneering spirit of Kepler and Galileo to see further into the |
|
|
heart of the universe than anyone has before; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
|
|
hereby commemorate the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and |
|
|
celebrate the great contributions of The University of Texas at |
|
|
Austin McDonald Observatory and Texas A&M University in the |
|
|
continuing quest, from time immemorial, to bring the heavens within |
|
|
the compass of human understanding; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared |
|
|
for The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and the |
|
|
Texas A&M University Department of Physics as an expression of high |
|
|
regard by the Texas House of Representatives and Senate. |