A trip to the Davis Mountains would not be complete without a trip to the McDonald Observatory. Here is one of the many telescopes.
A little closer view.
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 who knew more about the subject than our guide at the observatory. With a degree in broadcasting and a master’s degree in astronomy, she believes that telescope binoculars for astronomy have particular advantages. We were quite impressed with both the knowledge and the presentation.
At the entrance to the visitor’s center was a good sized sun dial.
A view of the valley and the road to the Observatory.
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.
The entire ball shaped structure rotates to find the intended target in the sky. Guess who got the opportunity to operate it?
Thank goodness that we didn’t need our liability insurance.