Home Of Astronomical Research And Public Outreach That Has The Darkest Night Sky Of All Observatories In The U.S.
The dark night sky offers a clear view of the large blanket of stars above the McDonald Observatory. In fact, the McDonald Observatory – part of the University of Texas in Austin – has the darkest night sky of all observatories in the United States, making the secluded, remote area very popular for Star Parties.
Hundreds of visitors from all over the country come to the McDonald Observatory to use the 12 telescopes out back. Each telescope has a staff member from the observatory explaining what viewers are looking at through the telescope. For the people who make the trek to the McDonald Observatory, their fascination and curiosity about the universe is fulfilled.
“We want to share this fascination with the rest of the universe, the idea of learning where we came from. The earth is part of the solar system, which is part of the galaxy, which is part of the wider universe... By helping people to learn about that context, we are learning about who we are and where we came from and where we might be going, what the future of our planet or star, sun, galaxy is,” said Communications Manager and StarDate Magazine Editor Rebecca Johnson. “It teaches people about this wider context.”
Astronomical research and public outreach have been the observatory's mission from the very beginning, when local banker William Johnson McDonald left most of his estate to the university to build an observatory in the late 1920s. At the time, the University of Texas had no astronomy program, but that would soon change.
To keep with McDonald's wishes, the observatory has a rich visitor's center with hands-on exhibits about astronomy, and even a theater that shows a live stream of the sun on a big screen, a view from one of the telescopes at the observatory. There are daily tours and schools and scout troops often take field trips to the observatory, sparking children's imaginations and curiosity with life beyond earth.
While the educational aspect of the McDonald Observatory is important and a huge draw for many families, make no mistake: The McDonald's Observatory is doing real work. The employees at the observatory are astronomers, who spend time researching and studying space from the telescopes within the observatory. They also work with Hubble telescopes and other scientists in the area.
“We do all different kinds of research,” said Johnson. “For instance, some planets and stars have been discovered right here at the observatory. We also discovered some of the Uranus' and Neptune's moons.”
An example of one of the more recent discoveries at the McDonald Observatory was planet K2-25b, discovered by Andrew Mann and colleagues in a nearby star cluster using both the Kepler space telescope and telescopes within the observatory itself. In an article written by Johnson, it was noted that the discovery of the planet could help astronomers “better understand how planets form and evolve.”
She quoted Mann as stating: “Open clusters are powerful tools as all the stars formed with the same age and composition,” Mann said. Once many planets are found orbiting young cluster stars, “we can compare those to planets orbiting older stars elsewhere to see if they are different in some fundamental way — to see how planets change with time.”
The team of astronomers led by Mann also confirmed the existence of a “young planet” (only 11 million years old) that's five times the size of earth, documented in an article written by Johnson in June of 2016. It's the “youngest such planet known” and the “discovery lends unique insights into the origin of planetary system architectures.”
To walk through the observatory and see the telescopes that were used to make such jaw-dropping discoveries is a unique and overwhelming experience for many. To stare into one of the telescopes and look into the same night sky that allowed astronomers to uncover these secrets in the universe is even more mind-blowing. To know there are things out in the universe that can be discovered every day is one way to make the earth seem tiny and make the sky above seem even more massive and endless than ever before.
“It's a neat place to go. It's remote. It's a beautiful part of the state. You're just so far away from everything. The night sky is just incredible. It's so dark. There's so many more stars in view. You can see the brightest stars and the planets of course. Millions and millions of stars,” said Johnson. “You can see the Milky Way. The first time I ever saw the Milky Way was out in the observatory as a college student. It's just an incredible, incredible sight.”
Olivia Richman
A graduate of East Connecticut State University in Journalism, Olivia has written for Stonebridge Press & Antiques Marketplace among others. She enjoys writing, running and video games.
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