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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/west-texas-dark-skies-mcdonald-observatory/>
"Though Fort Davis is located just sixty miles from the US-Mexico border, mild
mountain summers have earned it the title of the coolest town in Texas. It’s in
the heart of a sky island, a desert mountain range where migrating animals —
and tourists seeking reprieve from the heat — can rest awhile among juniper
trees and ponderosa pines.
Fort Davis is also on the cutting edge of serious science: tucked high into the
mountains, just a few miles from the sleepy main street with its antique shops
and quaint country courthouse, is the McDonald Observatory, a world-class
center for astronomical research.
Visitors to the observatory can tour one of the largest telescopes in the world
— the Hobby Eberly Telescope, which has its sights set on the edge of the
universe. “We know the universe is expanding, and expanding at an accelerated
rate,” McDonald Observatory Dark Skies Initiative Coordinator Stephen Hummel
explains. “But we don’t know what’s causing it.”
Scientists call whatever is causing the universe to expand “dark energy.” To
study the phenomenon, scientists need the sky to be — as the name implies —
very, very dark. “The dark energy experiment is the most vulnerable to light
pollution,” Hummel says.
That’s because the galaxies the Hobby Eberly Telescope is tracking are so far
away they emit very little light, which scientists measure in photons. Some
register with only a handful of photons. In contrast, a lightbulb emits photons
by the quintillions — a number with 18 zeros in it.
On a map of Texas after sunset, the region around the observatory is a dark
hole in a bright spiderweb connecting the state’s major cities. That darkness
is partly mandated by law: local towns have been required to adopt municipal
lighting that minimizes light pollution. The other part, which Hummel is
currently leading, involves convincing private citizens, school districts and
businesses to get on board, too.
While the majority of his work is concentrated in nearby Presidio, Brewster and
Jeff Davis Counties, he’s been trying to expand north — into the bright lights
of oil and gas country."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
