Stacy: Day 15 (August 3, 2015) - Another Nuclear Day!

SA2SOS Aug 7, 2015

I'm noticing a trend, here, with days not being jam-packed with my dad along for the ride... :o) I could use the break from walking 3 miles a day, though.

We started our day up at the McDonald Observatory again.

"But, the sun is out!" I hear you proclaim. "If the full moon washed out a lot of the night sky before, what do you possibly think you'll see with the sun out?" There-in lies the answer.

We learned about the star closest to the Earth: our sun. It was an hour-long lecture by an animated guy who dumbed down the science enough for the kids and lay folk so we could understand it. He was great. My eyes did glaze over from time to time, but it was still neat to learn about the nuclear process our sun (and all the other stars) go through.

At the end of the hour, he brought up the live image from the solar telescope, but clouds obscured our view! As a consolation, he brought up some websites with various real-time satellite images of the sun. They were still neat.

Then, he led us to the shuttle.

3... 2... 1... LIFT OFF!

... .... to the highest highway in Texas, leading to the two largest telescopes on this observatory's grounds.

We were taken inside the domes, where we learned about each telescope. He even gave us a demonstration of how the domes and telescopes move! [All while the domes were closed--it's daylight and those are some expensive pieces of equipment!]

Smaller telescope (107" mirror, I believe)

Larger telescope, with many smaller, hexagonal mirrors

Rain on the dome outside of the large telescope

Well, I must correct myself--the second telescope we saw (with the hexagon-mirrors atop the teal/light blue struts) wasn't actually demonstrated for us.

We just lucked out that they were doing maintenance on it, and they needed to move it! You see, this telescope isn't meant to be as easily mobile like the others )even the smaller domes we saw two nights before). This huge telescope is to remain mostly stationary.

However, due to its many mirrors, it needs to be synced each night before use. Afterwards, it can be moved into whatever position necessary, with each mirror talking to each other and adjusting should one of them slip slightly out of position. How does this telescope move?

Well, there are these donut-like bladders made out of heavy duty rubber located under the lowest supportive struts. They are filled with compressed air over a two-minute span, where they expand, lifting the heavy telescope off of the ground just enough. Then, huge robotic arms gently shift/rotate the telescope into the needed position. Once moved, the air is let out of the bladders, and the telescope gently settles to the floor for the night. It was neat to see it in action!

Once we were done viewing that telescope, the tour was over, but a storm had been brewing! And, as we were close to 7000 feet into the air, we waited (for a few minutes) for the lightning to abate. The guide drove us back down the mountain, where we decided to eat lunch in the nice, little cafeteria in the visitors center of the observatory.

Next up, stuff on my mom's to-see list. We were all just along for the ride.

Prada Marfa (an art exhibit, not a store)