MARY KAY HEMENWAY's blog

This week I'm at McDonald Observatory in the Davis mountains of west Texas co-facilitating a workshop on cosmology for grade 8-12 teachers.  The group of energtic teachers comes mainly from schools across Texas, but also from Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona, and California.  During out first day, we built Galileoscopes and then used them under fantastic clear and dark skies.  We also used some reflecting telescopes that collected more light than the 0.05-m refractor Galileoscope...these had mirrors from 0.1 to 0.55 m.  As part of the workshop, the group tours the professional telescopes. Last night, it was the 2.7-m Harlan J. Smith telescope. Today, the 9.2-m Hobby-Eberly telescope where they will learn about the Dark Energy research program.

McDonald Observatory has closed all operations today due to the threat of fire.  With dozens of houses destroyed in nearby Fort Davis, and hundreds of acres burned in the state park, the threat of fire is very serious.  Earlier this weekend the observatory acted as a refuge for those displaced from the state park's Indian Lodge and campground.  Now, the danger is too great. All non-essential staff and families have been advised to go north away from the fire zone. 

April 11, 2011

AS OF MAY 2, the fires were 95%  contained.  To reach this goal, many areas experienced back-burning.  The Observatory was closed several times.  They are now open on their regular schedule. 

I had great plans for last week - I had invited 24 teachers (20 from Texas with funding from the Texas Space Grant Consortium) and four from other states (with their own funding) to come to McDonald Observatory to learn to use a remote telescope.  MONET is a research grade telescope whose sponsors decreed that half of the observing time go to schools.  Last year we prepared 20 US teachers to use the telescope, and this year we hoped to get another 24 ready to use it.