Dark Skies Initiative
McDonald Observatory collaborates with communities and businesses to preserve far West Texas’s famous night skies. Endlessly star-filled skies are possible through the adoption of outdoor lighting practices that direct light down instead of up.
Hobby-Eberly Telescope
With its 10-meter mirror, the HET is one of the world’s largest optical telescopes. First dedicated in 1997, the telescope underwent a complete and extensive upgrade in 2017. The HET is optimized for spectroscopy, the decoding of light from stars and galaxies to study their properties. This makes it ideal for searching for planets around other stars, as well as probing distant galaxies, exploding stars, black holes, and more.
Harlan J. Smith Telescope
Constructed 1966-68, the Harlan J. Smith Telescope has a 107-inch (2.7-meter) mirror, which was the third largest in the world when built. The telescope is used every clear night of the year.
Otto Struve Telescope
Constructed 1933-39, the Otto Struve Telescope was the first major telescope to be built at McDonald Observatory. Its 82-inch (2.1-meter) mirror was the second largest in the world at the time. The telescope is still in use today.