Saturday, January 12, 2008 - Davis Mountains State Park, Fort Davis TX

Davis Mountains State Park, Fort Davis, Texas, January 12, 2008

A day and evening at McDonald Observatory

My timing was perfect for the often sold out 36" Telescope Special Viewing Night I signed up for last night while at the Observatory for their Twilight and Star Party programs. The usual crowds were not here and it was a perfectly clear night, if a bit chilly (in the high twenties by the time I left around 10:30).

The McDonald Observatory sees about 100,000 visitors a year with as many as 1,200 for a Star Party in March over spring break. There were only 11 of us hardy souls here for tonight's 36" Telescope Special Viewing Night.

The Guided Tour

While I was waiting for the 36" Telescope Special Viewing Night program to begin at 6:45 I took the afternoon Guided Tour. I wanted to see these great telescopes up close and this was my chance. These folks give a fine tour. First up is a theater presentation of live telescope images of the sun projected on screen and videos of some dramatic solar flares. Next comes a tour of the 107 inch Harlan Smith telescope and the 11.1 x 9.8 meter Hobby-Eberly telescope.

The 107 inch Harlan Smith Telescope, McDonald Observatory, Fort Davis, Texas, January 12, 2008

I clean my glasses, whether they need it or not, about once a month - which is about as often as these folks clean their mirrors (once a week for the Hobby-Eberly telescope). I use plain old tap water and scrub the bejeesus out of my glasses (yeah, I know - and they get scratched too). They're a bit touchy about scratches and use a gentler method than I do to clean their mirrors. They use carbon dioxide, sprayed through a nozzle as dry ice snow, to gently "fuff" the dust off. To get at the mirrors they tilt the barrel down horizontal and walk in. I'm not sure why they get excited about a little dust on the mirror. Some time ago a disgruntled employee took a shot at the mirror on the 107 inch telescope and when that didn't do enough damage to suit him, he attacked it with an axe. The crew softened the edges of the damaged spots with a Demel tool to keep cracks from growing and no great harm was done so I'm not sure why a little dust matters.

The mirrors are resurfaced with a very very thin layer of aluminum every 2 years. More often I think for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. They have a lab on site for resurfacing.

The 36" Telescope Special Viewing Night

This was fun. Astronomy and telescopes haven't received much attention from me in this lifetime and this was my first chance at a live discussion of the objects in our universe and a look at them through a decent telescope. The program was long enough, was conducted by a knowledgeable guide, and there were few enough in our group that we all got a good bit of viewing time and a chance to get our questions answered.

A list of websites distributed by McDonald Observatory

I picked up a handout with a list of websites useful to the budding astronomer and have given it its own page at Astronomy Related Websites. If you're interested in astronomy I'm sure you are aware of these sites. There is some neat stuff there.

Night camp

Davis Mountains State Park Campground, Fort Davis TX

• This is a nice, well maintained campground with level gravel sites with electric & water, and some with full hookups
• There is good biking on the park roads and hiking trails in the hills
• Good Verizon cell phone service - Access is via Extended Network, roaming
• No Verizon EVDO service - access is via the Extended Network and service is slow
• Find other references to Fort Davis
• List the nights I've camped here
• Check the weather
• Reserve a site
• Get a Google Street View and a map