Another concern is that the CfA and Harvard astronomy facilities are spread out over the campus, and the CfA building itself, situated up past the Radcliffe Quadrangle, is somewhat isolated from other sciences.

“Not all CfA people are in the same place,” Alcock said. “People are scattered all over the place and it’s not necessarily that healthy. But as to how and where [consolidation] will happen, I’ll have to take the fifth. Real estate decisions are difficult.”

Narayanamurti and Hernquist both pointed to several initiatives currently underway in the CfA—particularly discussions for Harvard’s participation in the construction of a new giant Magellan telescope—as examples of the direction in which the field is heading.

“The new telescope will be a great opportunity for Harvard to stay in the ranks of astronomy,” said Clowes Professor of Science Robert P. Kirshner. “That’s another thing that ends up on the director’s desk. He has to make the case to the University and others that this is something that really has to be supported.”

Alcock says his primary objective will be ensuring that Harvard constructs new facilities which will help advance science in his rapidly expanding field.

“What is fundamental is that the CfA is able to contribute to the x-ray center and the telescope,” he said.

...WE HAVE A PROBLEM

While Alcock says concerns about new facilities are “more important” than questions of faculty, major personnel issues loom on the horizon.

“Astronomy does need to make some appointments,” Narayanamurti said. “How that will be done will be a major effort with the Faculty and the Smithsonian.”

But appointments may be as hard to come by as new lab space. Harvard and the Smithsonian jointly sponsor five chairs in the astronomy department, according to an agreement by which the institute essentially provides funding and the University provides resources.

The five professors currently holding these spots are all over age 60. When they retire, the department will be short five faculty posts, and disputes between Harvard and the Smithsonian have impeded plans to refill the positions. According to Associate Dean of the Faculty Vincent J. Tompkins, no mechanism is in place to do so.

Hernquist, chair of the astronomy department, is not optimistic about resolving the joint-hires issue.

“That is a complicated negotiation between the two groups,” he said. “There does not seem to be much of a possibility of making joint positions in the near future for complicated reasons. The only possibility is for Harvard to give us more space for hiring.”

But tensions run high between the two organizations, which don’t always see eye-to-eye on methodology or planning decisions.

Solving those squabbles will mean bridging the gap between two powerful institutions—SAO, primarily a research organization, and the HCO, which is more closely tied to Harvard’s astronomy faculty and therefore more academically oriented.