McDonald Observatory -- near Fort Davis TX
N 30° 40.283 W 104° 01.416
13R E 593533 N 3393590
The McDonald Observatory - a cool science-y place to visit when the WPA writers showed up in the 1930s, and when Blasterz dropped in in 2016
Waymark Code: WMV1E7
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2017
Views: 5
The McDonald Observatory is a great place to visit whenever anyone is in or around Fort Davis. When the WPA writers were there, it was state of the art, brand-new, on the forefront of science!
The same is true 85 years later when Blasterz visited 2016, except that for WPA writers, the state of the art telescope was the Struve Telescope, ghe only telescope at the Observatory which opened in 1939. For Blasterz, it's the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, opened in 1996, being upgraded in 2016 to investigate "dark matter". In 2016 there are a total of 7 telescopes at the Observatory.
Star parties and tours are still being held here, but to get a spot at one just register on-line in 2016, instead of sending a letter (1930s).
From Texas: A Guide to the Lone Star State:
"State 118 continues northwestward to MCDONALD OBSERVATORY, 17 m., the second largest observatory in the world, on top of MOUNT LOCKE (6,791 alt.). It was officially opened May 5, 1939. The 62-foot diameter hemispherical dome surmounts a modern three-story structure and houses the giant 82-inch telescope, which is 26 feet long and weighs 75 tons, including its 3-ton mirror. It is sighted at the heavens through an 18-foot wide slot. Although fundamentally a private research plant for its staff of astronomers, the observatory is open to the public from one to one-thirty o'clock weekday afternoons and from two to three o'clock on Sundays. During these hours a member of the staff demonstrates the telescope and speaks briefly on the work of the observatory. In addition, public "star gazing" is conducted for a limited number of invited guests from eight-thirty to ten at night on the last Wednesday of each month. Invitations can be obtained by writing observatory officials."
Book: Texas
Page Number(s) of Excerpt: 617
Year Originally Published: 1940
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