MacDonald Observatory

 Good morning, my friends, and Happy Easter to all who celebrate. 

I'll admit that Easter is kind of a non-event around here, except that Matthew has a birthday coming up on April 2nd. He'll hit the big 4-0 this year. Every year since his birth, I've checked to see if Easter would fall on his birthday. So far, it hasn't. And since Easter baskets are no longer a part of our lives, Easter gets short shrift. Nevertheless, I remember attending Easter sunrise services with my mom, especially when my dad was deployed to Vietnam. She often made matching dresses for us. Here's a picture from one of our cross-country treks to accommodate a new duty station. We still attended Easter services, no matter where we landed on Easter Sunday.

Yesterday was our day to spend at the MacDonald Observatory. As we drove off, we could see Smitty enjoying the morning sunshine from his window hammock.

It was a relatively short drive to the observatory. We checked in at the visitor center where we were given a self-guided tour book. The observatory is affiliated with the University of Texas at Austin.

Inside, I picked up a refrigerator magnet. (My camera strap photobombed me there in the lower right.)

I liked this t-shirt.

There was also an exhibit hall. It was mainly a lot of signs and reading, especially about the importance of maintaining dark skies and avoiding "light pollution." There was also an extensive presentation of models and information about the Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile. Here's a scale model.

Here's a graphic showing the relative size of its reflector.

The real draw at the MacDonald Observatory (for us) is the Hobby Eberly Telescope. In the images I've posted, it's the one with the dimpled silver dome.

It was among the first telescopes that used mirrored panels instead of a single slab of glass as a reflector. Essentially all telescopes built since that time have used the same technology. The image below shows tiled models of how they all fit together.

These are the actual size of the panels used on the telescope. I put my foot there for scale. Besides...you wanted to see my knee patch again, didn't you?

Around the back of the visitor center, we could see a small dome. We know from the star party we attended some time back that there is a small telescope inside. We were invited to view some objects back then.

From higher up the hill, we could get a bigger view of the entire complex surrounding the visitor center. You can see the "amphitheater" on the left where the star parties are held. The benches there are concrete, and a word to the wise: If you ever attend a star party here, dress very warm. We just about froze to death when we attended the star party. And it was worth it.

Outside the visitor center was a HUGE sundial.

The time was off by one hour because of daylight savings time.

Indeed, the "gnomon" told us to add an hour for daylight savings time. I love sundials. I have a special place in my heart for them.

After wandering around the exhibits at the visitor center, we drove up to the two white-domed telescopes on Mt. Locke Summit. The land for this was donated by local rancher Violet Locke McIvor and requested it be named in honor of her grandfather. Here is the dome of the Otto Struve Telescope, named in honor of the observatory's first director, Otto Struve. It has a mirror 82 inches across.

Moving around the dome, we reached this point:

This was the view from there.

Moving a little to the left, it looked like this. When Mike and I were traveling 20 years ago, I wrote a blog called "Ribbon of Highway." The blog text is still available, but the pictures have all disappeared along with Google's Picasa program. In any case, I used this image as my header image. See the ribbon?

We weren't able to go inside these domes, but they are enormous. I took this image looking up to give you some idea how it feels to stand beside one of them.

The sign below was out of date and misplaced. For one thing, Mike points out that in the second paragraph it says data are "recorded on magnetic tape." And, no, not in today's world. Also, it directed our view in the opposite direction from where the VLBA is actually located.

It is down closer to the visitor center, and you can see it in the image below.

Next, we took the other road up to the dome where the Hobby-Eberly Telescope is housed.

We were greeted in the parking lot by these two yapping dogs. We thought we could have a conversation, but they just kept up their barking and yelling. No wonder kitties are not fond of woofies.

Turning around, we headed for the dome entrance.

Inside were some informative signs. Read them, or don't. It's always up to you. I'm not much of a sign-reader so no hard feelings if you pass them by.

Here's a look inside at the telescope. It's hard to make anything out. What I can tell you is that the mirrors fold up and sort of stack together. If you look down and to the left of center, you'll see a green railing. Some of the mirrors are visible there.

This telescope is used for spectrometry. The series of signs below explains how this works.

And these discuss how the telescope is operated.

And that was the end of our visit to the observatory. We headed over to Fort Davis National Historic Site from there. I have lots of pictures and lots to tell you, but I'll save that for tomorrow's post. 

After visiting Fort Davis NHS, we headed back to the RV to relax. Our plan was to head south when the sun set in an attempt to see the "mysterious Marfa Lights." We were handed this map to the "viewing area" when we checked into the RV park. Prude Ranch, where we're staying, is located at the top of the triangle, under the big letter "R."

We left around 7:45 p.m. It was still light out, but darkness was falling. Along the way I saw the first barn I've seen in at least a week.

About 20 miles down the road, we passed through the little town of Marfa.

From there, we headed east on TX-90 to the well-marked and fancy "viewing area." My goodness. You have to believe there's something to this for the state of Texas to invest so much in this viewing area. There was a large parking area, with benches for seating, and a restroom. Interestingly, the restroom uses no water or chemicals. Waste is composted by equipment beneath the building.  This isn't my picture.

(Image credit: "Marfa lights viewing area Marfa Texas" 

by amanderson2 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.)

The sheet attached to the map told us to look for the red light you see below. I've marked it with a red arrow. We were informed that any lights appearing to the right of the red light are Marfa Lights. 

So here's what we saw. I was using my Panasonic point-and-shoot camera...no flash, of course...and hand-held. The pictures aren't great, but you'll be able to see what we saw. Mike used binoculars to look at them. They were larger through the binoculars, but no less mysterious.

Okay, so let's just talk about this for a minute. I'm including a picture of our road map. The viewing area is marked with a red circle. The approximate location of the red light is marked with a red cross. As you can see, TX-67 runs right behind where the lights appear.

After seeing them and reading a little more, we're both inclined to agree with the two groups of scientists that attribute them to car headlights toward the end of this Wikipedia article. My friend, Gail, accurately points out the viewings of the lights predated the invention of the automobile and roadways. To that I respond...campfires, maybe? And who really cares? It was still worth going out there and fun  taking a look. We're just happy to be able to say we've seen them.

Okay, so that's the end of what I have for you today. The wind has come up and is shaking the RV pretty good. We did all of our sight-seeing yesterday, and so today is going to be a day to chill. I'm going to do some cooking this afternoon. I'm making a BLT Bow-Tie Pasta Salad. I was going to use the bow-tie pasta earlier in the trip in a different dish, but then it seemed like too much effort for something cooked in the RV. The BLT Bow-Tie Pasta Salad will be easier. Also, I'm making a Tangy and Creamy Macaroni Salad. I made this earlier in the trip. We'll have it with a dinner of French Dip sandwiches in a couple of days. In the meantime, Mike requested it to eat with his lunch, and there will be plenty for both. 

Finally, I'm making some Carrot Cakes for Two with Warm Cream Cheese Sauce. I'm still working on a bag of shredded carrots I brought from home. And at some point during this trip (I forget when), I generated a half-used package of cream cheese. Hopefully, I can get both out of the refrigerator with this recipe. Also, it's a logical time to mention that I started trying to lose 17 pounds back just after Christmas. It was too hard trying to maintain a low-calorie diet while we were visiting with friends in Escondido. I cut myself a dieting break during that time while simultaneously promising myself I'd get back to it when we left. And, you know, it's always hard to get back on the diet band wagon. It took me until today to get back to a weight lower than when I abandoned the diet a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm back on the losing path. I figure I can afford a tiny carrot cake for tonight's dessert. My weight loss now stands at 10.5 pounds. Just 6.5 pounds to go. It's a slow process, but I'm not in any hurry.

In tomorrow's post, I'll tell you about Fort Davis National Historic Site and whatever else happens today. I'm looking forward to a day of rest and slow-stitching. How about you?