The observatory is primarily a research facility of the University of Texas at Austin but is also a world class observatory that is home to a number of telescopes including the Hobby-Eberly Telescope,one of the largest optical telescopes in the world. Here is some information about the observatory:
We visited the observatory a couple of years ago and felt it was worth a return visit. We had reservations for the 11:00 am tour that takes about 2 1/2 hours. The tour started with a program in the theater about the sun; then we visited two of the main telescopes at the observatory.
We first visited the Harlan J. Smith telescope that was commissioned in 1969 and with advances in software and associated equipment it is still viable and a widely used telescope, with astronomers around the world scheduling use time 3-6 months in advance.
We next visited the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, the fifth largest telescope in the world with innovative and cost effective spectrography.
We also saw a new radio telescope that is presently in the process of being installed and commissioned.
It was an excellent tour with a very knowledgeable tour guide. It was windy on the mountaintop (50 mph gusts) and partly cloudy, but we survived .After the tour, we had lunch in their snack bar and drove the 40 miles back down the mountain to the RV park in Alpine where we are staying.
We continue east tomorrow to Fredricksburg, TX
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