History
Harvard's astrophysical juggernaut began as allscientific institutions begin...with a grant. In1843 the sighting of a huge comet fueled publicinterest in astronomy, resulting in a $25,730Harvard grant which was used to build a 15-inchdiameter "Great Refractor" on Observatory Hill onGarden Street.
The telescope, which was the largest in Americafor 20 years, is still fully operational and opento the public on the third Thursday of everymonth.
Later that century, the Smithsonian Institutewas founded in Washington, D.C. in 1890 by agovernment handled grant from James Smithson aimedat the "increase and diffusion of knowledge."
Today the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory(SAO) works closely with the famed SmithsonianMuseums in Washington, D.C., says CfA publicaffairs representative James Cornell.
In 1955, the SAO moved its headquarters fromWashington, D.C. to Cambridge. A naturalrelationship soon formed between the SAO and theHarvard Observatory that culminated in theirmerger in 1973 to become today'sHarvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Success Rooted in Confusion
Most of the people at CfA advise against tryingto discern which branch, Harvard or Smithsonian,is responsible for which projects.
"It's really convoluted," says Cobuzzi. Oteizadismisses any division between Smithsonian andHarvard employees as "only for paperwork. It's notas if we have stamps on our heads saying `Harvard'or `Smithsonian.'"
Physicist Ronald L. Walsworth compares thedistinction to students with different houseaffiliations: "If somebody from Dunster Houseanswers a question in class, do you get upsetbecause you're from Lowell House?"
Osten is equally bemused about where herpaycheck comes from, noting that once it came fromthe U.S. Department of Agriculture.
However puzzling the financial interconnectionsbetween the two institutions may be, politics canforce many scientists to pay more attention to theorigin of their grants.
Walsworth notes that "three fourths of ourmoney ends up coming from the government." He says"big political stinks" over such controversies asthe up coming exhibit of the plane that bombedHiroshima in the Smithsonian Air and Space museumcould result in a reduction of cash flow to theCfA.
Orteiga notes that there is certainlyinsecurity but that "much of it is in the peoplehigher up."
Moran admits that it takes visiblebreakthroughs, such as his confirmation of theexistence of black holes, to keep projects likethe VLBA alive. Moran says the discovery is a"feather in the cap" of the CfA, citing the 20year delay in building the VLBA.
"Funding for astrophysics is nothing like itwas in the Kennedy '60s," Moran says