UA Campus Telescope To Be Renamed for Raymond E. White Jr.

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Campus Station houses the 21-inch telescope being renamed for the late Raymond E. White, Jr. (Photo: Dave Harvey)

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Steward Observatory's Ray White Jr., with the 21-inch Campus Station telescope.

By Lori Stiles April 25, 2007

The 21-inch optical telescope used by University of Arizona undergraduates for research and by the public for viewing stars and planets will be renamed this month to honor the late Raymond E. White, Jr.

The telescope is housed in the historic 1923 Campus Station dome on the west side of Steward Observatory. It will be renamed the "Raymond E. White Jr. Reflector."

White (1933-2004), who joined the UA astronomy faculty in 1964, helped shape UA astronomy curriculum and hosted the UA Steward Observatory Public Evening Lecture Series throughout his 35-year UA career. He became one of the first UA faculty to be recognized as University Distinguished Professor. He retired in 1999.

Members of White's family and UA officials will dedicate the telescope at the Steward Observatory Public Evening Lecture program at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 23.

White's son, Professor Raymond E. White III, chair of the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Alabama, will give the evening lecture, "Blowing Bubbles in Galaxies and Clusters of Galaxies." His talk will be in the Steward Observatory auditorium, Room N210.

UA Steward Observatory Director Peter Strittmatter, UA College of Science Dean Joaquin Ruiz, UA Provost George Davis and Steward Public Evening Lecture Series host Thomas A. Fleming also will take part in the naming ceremony. White's widow, Ruby, their other two children and White's two sisters also will attend.

Following the lecture and a reception in Steward Observatory's main lobby, the public is invited to view the heavens with the White Reflector, weather permitting.

A plaque to be mounted at the base of the telescope carries this inscription: "This telescope is dedicated to the memory of Raymond E. White, Jr., in recognition of his many years of service to Steward Observatory as a teacher, scholar, astronomer, and friend. Through his tireless efforts on behalf of the students of the University of Arizona, he enriched the cosmic perspective of a whole generation of budding young scientists. - April 23, 2007"

Et Cetera