Greenville & Hockessin Life recently met with Dr. Judith Provencal, the resident astronomer at the Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory in Greenville, to discuss her early moments behind a telescope, the Observatory’s recent acquisition of a 1.3-meter MCAO telescope, and what we can continue to learn from our observation and study of the skies above us.

Greenville & Hockessin Life: Take me back to the time and place where you first looked through a telescope. How old were you and do you remember what you saw?

Provencal: I think I was about ten years old when I first looked through a telescope. I had a little telescope as a child growing up in Kittery, Maine, but that was not the first telescope that I remember looking through. My cousin had a little telescope that I contributed about $50. My allowance was about twenty-five cents a week, so it took a long time to save up. My parents paid the rest as a Christmas present.

Do you remember what you saw?

Jupiter and its four moons. Back in the days before light pollution, I could see the Milky Way when I was a kid. My parents thought I was nuts, but I would take my telescope out in the winter, set it up and be out there in the snow, so that I could see the sky. 

Was there a moment that crystallized your decision to pursue the study of astronomy – a specific minute of your life that said, “Go in the direction of the stars?”

I don’t remember a specific moment, so I suspect that my interest has always been there. I have to admit that I picked my college – Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts – not on the basis of its astronomy program, but because they had horses on campus, where you could take riding lessons. Away from my research and teaching, I am a horse addict and I still own a horse.

You began working at the University of Delaware as a post-doctoral student in 1994 under the esteemed Dr. Harry Shipman. What did you learn from Dr. Shipman, and in what ways do you still incorporate his tutelage in your study today? 

Harry was more of a theorist than an observer, and I am more of an observer than a theorist, so we made a good team. When I first came to Delaware, we were studying a binary star known as Procyon B. It had a white dwarf star companion orbiting around it, and we wanted to get the orbital period of the white dwarf accurately in order to determine its mass and radius. There wasn’t much empirical evidence to support the white dwarf mass radius relation theory.

We used the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS), the Wide Field Planetary Camera (WFPC2), and the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) – instruments that are all attached to the Hubble Space telescope - to observe Procyon B. 

The rule for the Faint Object Spectrograph was, ‘Thou shall not point the telescope at anything bright,’ because you could damage the instrument, but Procyon B, right next to it, was very bright, so in order to avoid that light and focus on the white dwarf, we had to have an accurate placement. We ended up locating the white dwarf with the WFPC2 instrument, but because science is crazy, you find things out that you would never predict. Our WFPC2 data showed that the white dwarf had a core made of iron, and supposedly, all white dwarfs are made of carbon and oxygen. We published our paper saying that Procyon B had an iron core. A few years later, we got better observations using STIS and found out that the white dwarf was a different type than what we expected it to be. When we figured this out, our analysis supported the white dwarf mass radius relation that we were trying to prove. It took a lot of steps to get to that result! Harry taught me to always work towards getting better data to improve our knowledge.

Describe Harry’s infectious curiosity and how it influenced you.

I had met Harry before, but until I began at the University of Delaware, I didn’t know how enthusiastic he was about astronomy. The thing about Harry that I remember most was that he loved teaching. He loved research, but it was more important to him that his students were learning. He wanted to make sure that students were learning things and discovering ways to do it. Harry would take his classes and divide them into groups and assign them projects and at the end of each project they would get back together and discuss their results. 

He had so much energy. He would run around the class and check on how everyone was doing and being able to observe that has influenced me as teacher.

What do you enjoy most about teaching and research?

I love those moments when a student of mine figures something out. When I am doing my own research and I get a result, I love that moment when I realize that no one else knows this data except me.

Less than one year ago, a 1.3-meter MCAO telescope was installed at the Cuba Astronomical Observatory. Talk about why the Observatory was seeking to add this technology to its inventory, and what its key purpose will be in the years ahead.   

The whole process began about nine years ago. Our 24-inch telescope – still here at the Observatory – was installed in the 1960s but has 1960s technology. We then began thinking about why we need a more modern telescope. I began traveling around different observatories that had telescopes that were close to what we were looking to buy and began talking with them. 

In 2020, we started the construction of the building, and the ground was very rocky which required a special machine to get rid of the rocks. The building was completed in 2022, which was delayed because of COVID-19, and the telescope arrived in June of 2024. 

When the MCAO is ready – hopefully this fall – it will give students the hands-on ability to use it. This telescope will enable us to see objects that are much fainter in the sky than we could see before.

The 1.3-meter MCAO telescope puts the Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory in a bigger ballgame, yes?

Absolutely. It will be the largest working research telescope on the East Coast. 

The Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory remains a vital center for astronomical research, drawing thousands of curious minds to classes and workshops there every year. What continues to drive the Observatory forward?

For me, it is training the next generation of astronomers. It is important that the next generation understand where the data comes from, and that is what this telescope will do. We may discover some new and fantastic thing, and who knows, we might – but it’s not guaranteed. What is guaranteed is being able to teach that next generation.

What needs to be done to encourage more young women to enter the field of astronomy?

When I was a graduate student, a professor told me that I was the first woman he’d ever had as a graduate student, and I was the only woman in my group. “How do I treat you?” he asked. I told him that he should treat me no differently than any of my male colleagues. 

We need more places like Mt. Cuba that encourage young women to nurture their interest. If they have the interest, they will have the motivation. I would encourage them to continue to be stubborn, and to never give up.

The is a sense of curiosity that leads someone to a telescope lens, and for many, it happens again and again. What is it like for you to introduce someone to a telescope viewing for the first time or someone to a telescope for the thousandth time? I am sure it’s an experience that never grows old, yes?

It’s been fifty years since I first looked through a telescope, I still love looking at Jupiter and Saturn. The best moments are looking at the moon because when you look at the moon through the moon through the telescope, you can see all its contours and craters.

We had a young person at the Observatory named Jackson recently who was looking at the moon through the telescope lens during a public event. One of our teachers asked him, “Do you see the moon?” He kept telling her that he had not yet. Afterward, he told the teacher that he had seen the moon, “but I just didn’t want to tell you because I wanted to keep looking.”

Jackson started coming to the Observatory when he was about five years old, and he is still coming here.

What can we as humans continue to learn from our observation and study of outer space? How will looking up to the skies help us live better lives here on Earth?

Every time we have a new telescope or new technology, we learn something new, every time. Right now, the Webb telescope is teaching us more about the early history of the universe, and how galaxies are formed. The other new development in astronomical research is the search for other Earth-like plants. There are a couple of space missions whose focus is to find planets like ours. 

That may be the greatest question that continues to drive human curiosity: Is there life on other planets?

I think it would be a vast waste of space if we were the only source of life. There are 400 billion stars in the Milky Way, and just beyond that, the Andromeda Galaxy is twice as large and there are easily another hundred billion galaxies out there, and that’s a lot of stars. It would be a statistical anomaly if we were the only planet that has developed some kind of life.

What is your favorite spot in either Greenville or Hockessin?

The Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory. I have an office at the University

of Delaware, but when I really need to get some particular kind of research done, I come to the

Observatory because no one knocks on my door. I also like the Hockessin Bookshelf.

You organize a dinner party and can invite anyone – famous or not, living or not. Who would you want to see around that table?

For astronomical reasons, I would invite my colleague in Texas, Mike Montgomery. He’s a theorist, and he’s constantly coming up with new ideas. I love the way he thinks, and he’s wonderful to talk to. It would be nice if Harry Shipman could come back and sit around that table. Another person I would like to invite would be Rosa Parks, because I want to know how she managed to have the guts to do what she did. 

What items can always be found in your refrigerator?

Yogurt and homemade vegetable soup.

The Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory is located at1610 Hillside Mill Road, Wilmington, Del. 19807. Office hours are Mon-Fri from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. by appointment only. To learn more about special events, public nights and other programs, visit www.mountcuba.org.