Visiting McDonald Observatory

Made a little side trip to get my space nerd side settled.  Was a short jaunt over to the observatory.  Had a nice tour with a gal named Rachel.  She was really knowledgeable and quite entertaining.

We got to see some live shots of the sun and learned all about sun flares and related items. 

Then took the shuttle up to see the big telescopes. WOW!  It was so cool to be that close to such an impressive piece of technology.  The one scope we got to "play" with was a 72 inch mirror.  Quite the cutting edge for the time.  They used to also shoot a range laser from the same facility. Did you know the moon is slowly floating away from the earth at a rate of 1.5 inches per year?

The Hobby Epply Telescope (HET) is quite a unique design.  Covers about 70 percent of the sky view from its location, but at the fraction of the cost for what other telescopes cost. Impressive use of new tech.

Decided to camp again instead of pay for a $100 hotel room.  Ugh. Does the wind ever stop blowing in West Texas? Barely slept again, and had to spend part of the night in the car.  Lack of sleep is making me grumpy 😣

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