Northern Arizona Universitys already bustling astronomy program raised its profile this week by partnering with a world-class telescope.

The university has secured regular time on Lowell Observatorys Discovery Channel Telescope, the fifth-largest telescope in the country.

In exchange for a little more than $1 million, NAU will receive 80 nights of telescope use over the course of five years. That works out to about $12,500 per night on the $53 million telescope.

The DCT, which saw its first light last year, is located about 40 miles southeast of Flagstaff in Happy Jack.

NAU professors will use their nights to study Kuiper Belt Objects at the outer edge of the solar system. The instrument will also become a teaching tool for the schools growing body of astronomy students.

The way you become a scientist is by apprenticeship, said Stephen Tegler, chair of the astronomy and physics department, adding that students dont just learn through bookwork. When students see they have access to this kind of facility, thats a very big motivator.

Other schools already in the partnership include Boston University, the University of Maryland and the University of Toledo.

Lowell is delighted that NAU has agreed to become a DCT partner, said Lowell Observatory Director Jeff Hall. This is another example of our institutions working together for the advancement of science.

NAU students will now get the chance to accompany astronomers like Tegler on their trips to the telescope with the 4-meter lens (about 13 feet). The professor said that some students already spent time with the telescope in observational astronomy classes this semester, which were taught by a Lowell Observatory astronomer. Those chances will now become more frequent.

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Discovery Channel Telescope gets new partner