Texas Star Party

This is a photo of the North Field of the Prude Guest Ranch during the 1998 Texas Star Party,
held April 19-26. There were two other fields in use, as well as scopes set up by themselves
in various areas. We camped for the week; the kids enjoyed camping, and Kathy and I
completed various observing lists (she completed the Binocular Great Southern Skies Challenge,
as did I, along with the Telescope Great Southern Skies Challenge and the completion of
my Messier list). The largest scope visible (the blue-covered Dobsonian) is a 36" scope. Wow.

For a fantastic panoramic view, see Duane Baker's page.

On April 23, 1998, we took a special guided tour of the McDonald Observatory, including the
433-inch Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET), the 82-inch Otto Struve Telescope, and the 107-inch
Harlan J. Smith Telescope. This photo is of the HET and the George T. Abell Gallery.

Above is the primary mirror of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET), a 433-inch mirror made up of
91 mirror cells, each supported by three actuators to "fine tune" the alignment. As the dome kind of
blends into the mirror in this picture, here's a hint: the mirror reflects the support web as curved lines,
and is supported by the blue mounting structure.

Above is one hexagonal mirror cell, mounted for display in a case in the George T. Abell Gallery.

We were privileged to enjoy a tour of the other facilities, including the 82-inch
Otto Struve Telescope, which has been in continuous use since 1939.

Finally, we saw the 107-inch Harlan J. Smith Telescope, in use since 1968.
It was used extensively by NASA to prepare for the Voyager interplanetary missions.