Shortly after my 10th birthday, our family left Dallas in our 1935 Plymouth for a trip to West Texas. Memorable stops along the way were eating breakfast in the Nimitz Hotel in Fredericksburg, and spending the night in the new Lone Starr Lodges in Kerrville. We headed for Fort Davis, where we spent the night at the Prude Ranch and then drove up Mt. Locke to see the new McDonald Observatory on September 7th.
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Ladybugs
Shared by visitor Shelly Hollen on April 15, 2014
My first visits to McDonald Observatory occurred in the seventies as a camper at Prude Ranch. One of our field trips was to the Observatory and what struck me the most wasn't the telescopes or skies, but the migration of thousands of ladybugs on every surface. It was a Milky Way of orange and black.
Time Travels of the 82-inch Telescope Model
Shared by McDonald staff member Sandra Preston on April 15, 2014
Last week, the more than 75-year-old model of the 82-inch telescope arrived at the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas. This morning I got to be there when they opened the crate containing it. I felt a little like Indiana Jones in the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" movie to get to be a part of this ceremony. The model is on loan from the Western Reserve Historical Society and it came all the way from Cleveland, Ohio. Twenty-five years ago, the model was exhibited at the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University in Alpine in association with McDonald Observatory’s 50th anniversary.
Starry, Starry Night
Shared by teacher workshop participant Jody Harkrider on April 13, 2014
I had forgotten what a truly dark sky could produce ... the magic, the infinity, the glorious majesty, and the over whelming feeling of being a part of something far greater than everyday life. The abundance of stars crashed over me like a giant wave the instant I walked out of the transient quarters at the McDonald Observatory in west Texas late one July night. I was one of 16 teachers chosen to broaden their astronomical horizons through the American Astronomical Society Teacher Resource Agent program (AASTRA). Dr. Mary Kay Hemenway and her graduate assistant, Pamela Gay, were our guides, instructors and mentors through five nights of observation and work on the 76 centimeter telescope. But all I could think of that first night as I walked with my head held back at a 90 degree angle to my body was, “I forgot.”
Boot Camp!
Shared by teacher workshop participant John Farmer on April 9, 2014
This was my very first trip to the observatory! Having no idea where the observatory was at, but knowing it was going to take me eight hours to drive, I packed my belongings late the night before, after being at school all day teaching my junior high kiddos, and got minimal sleep. I left my home a little earlier than normal and drove non stop, except for fuel and food of course, by myself. Then taking that winding road (118) off the Interstate up to the mountain top, was a bit more than I was ready for, but because I procrastinated felt it would be just fine. I knew I would check in, get my lodging, at the time it was at the Indian Lodge and then get me some rest for the next day's activities! Little did I know it would resemble boot camp I had attended some 30 years earlier in San Antonio!