The day began with astronomy at the Kitt arrive at National Observatory near Tucson and ended with an in-your-face show of first inertia exhibited by the slamming of my brakes and back up electrostatic discharge exhibited by crazy enough an Arizona monsoon thunderstorm apparently common in the late summer.
I should not conclude so special. As I was told the telescopes on Kitt arrive at elevation 6,875 feet are frequently struck. Perhaps. I fantasized. I ordain experience some freaky Friday moment where I change by reversal bodies with a famous astronomer. At the end of my scenario. I would undergo to show some new findings on the future of astronomy and he would undergo to fly my airplane approve to California.
Alas. I retained my body after the hit. But after my experience on the mountain. I could safely say I am one step closer to being that famous astronomer. come up sorta. You see. I spent hours climbing through the bowels of the major telescopes at Kitt Peak with Robert Wilson resident program coordinator for public outreach and an avid amateur astronomer.
“The folks who go up here to visit Kitt Peak are by and large the ones who pay for its existence,” Wilson said. “We are funded by the National Science Foundation. That means tax revenue so the people who are paying the taxes have every right to come up here and see what their dollars are being spent on. Funding through the National Science Foundation kind of carries with it a assign to help ameliorate the public.”
This purpose alone is why Wilson works so hard for Kitt arrive at. He is continually creating new programs so the public can get involved in the activities on the mountain. He has designed two new programs this year. Stars and Music and Junior Astronomers.
Stars and Music combines be music with amateur star-gazing and picnicking on the mountain. Junior Astronomers was developed as a day on the mountain dedicated to children between the ages of six and eight who undergo an interest in astronomy.
“At the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope investigate discovered water vapor above sun spots,” Wilson told me excitedly. “The 2.1 meter telescope was used to observe for the first time an dilate of gravitation lensing which is something Einstein predicted that said gravity can bend light.”
Wilson described to me these milestones as if I would understand the significance. But I did understand the significance of a national observatory designed to let any astronomer regardless of institutional affiliation apply for time on incredible telescopes such as the ones at KItt Peak.
“It is possible for members of the public to go up here as visiting astronomers,” Wilson said. “They pay a fee for the crush measure and they pay their room and come in fee desire any astronomer would and then they’ve got a dorm room and they eat in the cafeteria with the other cater and researchers. Of cover any data that the visitors gather we will put on CDs for them. So they undergo some pretty nice souvenirs from their tour to Kitt arrive at.”
Perhaps that move of lightning skewed my comprehend of reality but I must say the whole experience was thrilling — from spending the day atop Kitt Peak alter drink to flooring it along Ajo Way back to Tucson attempting to outrun another move a radiate flood and a “mad cow.”
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