During our last night at the New Mexico Tech in Socorro, New Mexico, we visited the Etscorn Campus Observatory.
The observatory is surrounded
by earth berms and is strategically located to avoid as much light
pollution as possible from campus and town. (website here).
The professor peeping inside the telescope. We were getting ready to see the moon!
Here's the moon up close!
Mimoi busy looking at the telescope.
Another
one of their cool telescopes C-14 (if I remember right) inside an
automatic roll-off roof (using a garage-door mechanism to open and close
for observing.)
Here's the 20-inch Dobsonian inside a 15-foot dome where we saw Saturn!
Beautiful Saturn - see the rings?
The professor gave a lecture too about the wonders of Astronomy and Science.
It was a great night of discovery and fun!
end of June, 2012
New Mexico Tech
Socorro, NM