Spent a spectacular day and evening at Kitt Peak National Observatory today. First our group got to tour a number of large telescopes on the mountain - there are more telescopes here than you can shake a stick at. Then in the evening we got to do some observing through much smaller amateur telescopes that are on the mountain for visitors. It was a great experience. As sunset approached, I walked up to one of the highest spots on the mountain so I could see a number of telescopes, hoping to get a good picture in the late afternoon light. Well, I didn't quite get that, but I got THIS - an astronomer taking a walk around the outside catwalk of the 2.1 Meter telescope before a night's observing run. I am not sure if this is ritual or not, but it felt that way. The small human figure shows more than anything else, how large these telescopes are.
Did they let you drive the big boy?
ReplyDeleteThey don't let ASTRONOMERS drive the big boy! The astronomers run the detectors mounted on the back end of the telescope, and there are telescope operators, known as "Night Assistants" who run the telescope itself.
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