PASADENA, Calif. – For almost 100 years, Caltech has been at the
forefront of astronomy and astrophysics, pioneering research that has
led to greater understanding of the earth, the solar system, and the
Universe. Now the Institute is about to help its world-renowned
astronomers and other investigators continue their groundbreaking
discoveries well into the 21st century.

Thanks to a lead gift from Charles H. Cahill and Aniko Der Cahill,
plus support from the Sherman Fairchild Foundation and other
Institute friends, Caltech will soon begin construction of an
estimated 100,000-square-foot facility that will provide a much
needed collective and collaborative home for its astronomers,
instrument builders, and theorists who now work in numerous buildings
on campus.

With an imposing view of the southern facade of Caltech with the San
Gabriel Mountains beyond, the new $50 million Cahill Center for
Astronomy and Astrophysics will be located on the south side of
California Boulevard, between the Institute’s athletic facilities on
the south and the rest of the campus on the north. Internationally
recognized architect Thom Mayne and his firm, Morphosis, based in
Santa Monica, CA, have been chosen to design what promises to be a
visually impressive structure and a facility that will be extremely
functional.

The recipient of 52 awards from the American Institute of Architects,
Mayne has designed both consumer products and buildings, including
the striking new Caltrans District 7 headquarters in downtown Los
Angeles. Mayne will design a structure for Caltech that will
complement the aesthetics of the campus and the surrounding
neighborhood while meeting the practical needs of scientists.

Plans call for the Cahill Center to be composed of five floors, two
of them underground. The building will contain space for offices,
laboratories, remote observing rooms, conference rooms, a library, an
auditorium, and classrooms. The design is expected to be completed by
the spring.

“An institution conducting cutting-edge research in astronomy and
astrophysics should have a facility that advances those
investigations,” said Caltech president David Baltimore. “Thom Mayne
and Morphosis is an exciting choice that will provide the campus and
Pasadena with a highly visible icon. By bringing investigators
together from across campus, the center will engender the kinds of
collaborations that are Caltech’s hallmark, and which lead to
breakthrough discoveries.”

Since the time of George Ellery Hale, Caltech astronomers have been
housed in the elegant Robinson building, opened in 1932 and
distinguished by its rooftop astronomical dome. Generations of
occupants have discovered remarkable phenomena, including the
cosmological nature of quasars, the incredibly bright beacons in the
sky indicating the presence of very distant galaxies, millisecond
pulsars, and brown dwarfs, also known as “failed stars.” This year
alone, Caltech astronomers found the largest object orbiting the sun
since the discovery of Pluto in 1930, and the most distant galaxy in
the Universe.

Over the years, the Institute’s astronomy program has increased in
size, overfilling the Robinson building, so that other astrophysical
programs began to occupy neighboring physics laboratories. Despite
their many successes, Caltech astronomers and astrophysicists have
been limited by the physical separation between research groups.
“Pulling together the division’s many activities in astronomy and
astrophysics to achieve optimal synergy has been our goal for some
time,” says Tom Tombrello, chair of the Division of Physics,
Mathematics and Astronomy. “The Cahill Center is an essential step in
this progression and, naturally, a top priority for us. We greatly
appreciate the gift by the Cahills and other Caltech friends that
will help us tackle some of the remaining questions in astronomy.”

Caltech’s observing facilities, which span almost the entire
electromagnetic spectrum, are unmatched by any other institution in
the world. Its optical observatories stretch from the Palomar
Observatory, which includes the famous 200-inch telescope built in
the 1930’s, to the twin 10-meter Keck telescopes on Mauna Kea. A
recently proposed Thirty Meter Telescope is now being designed. To
this impressive list of world-leading optical telescopes is added the
nation’s largest millimeter wave radio interferometer, and
submillimeter wave single dish. The list goes on, including
balloon-borne and land-based cosmic background detection facilities,
an ultraviolet sky survey satellite, European Space Agency satellites
and NASA satellites, and an airborne telescope.

“The Cahill Center will enable the inventors of all these devices to
be brought together under one roof, no doubt fostering exciting new
discoveries,” says Tombrello. “Caltech is known worldwide for its
leadership in astronomy. It’s the unique quality of Caltech’s
education that promotes these discoveries, which will help improve
our understanding of the Universe.”

MEDIA CONTACT:

Mark Wheeler
(626) 395-8733
wheel@caltech.edu

Visit the Caltech media relations web site: http://pr.caltech.edu/media