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Our first stop in Fort Davis
was McDonald Observatory. Located 6,800 feet atop Mt. Locke in the
heart of the Davis Mountains of West Texas, this
observatory is one of the world's most significant
astronomy research facilities. The view alone would be worth the climb, but we found much more than that on Mt. Locke -- a great McDonald Observatory staff that made our visit educational and fun. |
| We planned our visit to include
a "star party." Promptly at 6:30 p.m. every
Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday night, the staff points
three telescopes into the dark night, and "the sky's
literally the limit" as far as what you can see and
imagine. We were able to see Saturn, the Andromeda galaxy
and the Orion nebula, and have a close look at the moon while enjoying thought-provoking conversation. Coming soon to this location is the new Hobby-Eberly Telescope. It will be the second largest telescope in the world and should help provide more research time on world-class telescopes. |
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| Back To Texas | Over 130,000 people visit the observatory each year. If you can't get to West Texas, check out Stardate magazine and listen to reports on NPR. To order the magazine call: 1-800-StarDate |