McDonald Observatory

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A trip to the Davis Mountains  would not be complete without a trip to the McDonald Observatory.  Here is one of the many telescopes.

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A little closer view.

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We took a tour of the facility which included an interesting presentation about the solar system.  Keeping track of solar flares is one of their prime tasks.   We’ve been on a lot of tours over the past few years and found no guide that knew more about the subject than our guide at the observatory.  With her degree in broadcasting and a masters in astronomy, we were quite impressed with both the knowledge and presentation.

At the entrance to the visitor’s center was a good sized sun dial.

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A view of the valley and the road to the Observatory.

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Here’s another one of the telescopes. (How’s that for blue sky?)  We were allowed to climb into this one. They also have kids astronomy telescope.

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The entire ball shaped structure rotates to find the intended target in the sky.  Guess who got the opportunity to operate it?

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Thank goodness that we didn’t need our liability insurance.

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