Orlando Sentinel

February 3, 2014 – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Monday installed a $1 million telescope at its Daytona Beach campus, which gives the school bragging rights as home to Florida’s largest university research telescope.

Officials hope the 16-foot-tall, 2-ton device will draw more students to the campus and to an astronomy major it plans to start offering later this year.

Embry-Riddle is among the colleges across the state and nation that have expanded astronomy programs as interest has grown in recent years.