European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 13, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Gains new to if to fort photo Art working with a solar Imago at the meath Tolar tote copy at Kytt Pratt in Bartraw. Astronomers at work stressful nights at Kitt Peak by James Gleick new York times he using so lha Brick he Timo people the Mounia a Black flyover kill Peak of Shiv i Oil go in los Casl of tuck big. An. No a or Ozark i-1.la v1 clillcienccbcl.1. To l a. I begun land Furj in Ina Dros of me scr i big he Linio an of no Poison lilies. Compared 1 1 their dark a rep Tou tar air a dark Lime people Ijiro nil lond to he anxious com Pohling and i m a in Lorril dark Lime person built Stephen e Szrom of Massachi lots. Beginning a it jul c work on the largest of the telescopes dotting the Mountaintop a Giani no Umont known As thin ajl four meter i won i go so Lar As to say i would t sv3"t Rny daughter to marry Ada k time astronomer now though. Of. An Opal Moon pulling Mesnil of the desert Tolooi and clip Tjing Iri rough a Lew remnants of the Day s Cinus clo Iiri. The Burghl Lima people were Pul tag their Serene a Luis on hold kill Peak s Small along with a select group of visiting scientists drawn to us famous Lele Scopes. Have generated n Stigum of recent findings in tha Aileron Only of the near and far Universo real firming is by role in american science and keeping the proswirow on its astronomers. So even in Bright Lime every second Al kill Peak counts even Briihl time astronomers vie for the privilege of a Lew Mehls a year on these instruments. For the Mayal in Sotl. Four of every five requests Are turned Down. Bad weather according to astronomical tradition is just Tough tuck for a desperate graduate student a night of Clouds can mean a year s delay in completing a thesis. Astronomy offers no rain checks. Somewhere above Szrom. Photons from a single Star beamed through the great instrument. A computer Saeun came to life showing me Star the Way a Modem Alron Tinct usually sees Ilas the lagged line of a spectrum engr Jar breaking the fight into its Pul air Connit sunni wavelengths. Strom started to worry about whether Iho spectrum show Tri no nah a claim or Xvi Elci he have Lov a to per Iii time redoing Ihn san o Imago his paring. Sujan . Was struggle my to gel some Neil sol Vaie to an her screen. Oils de inc cold Kloct Donie ii duct Rcd Holly. Lurnig m compensation for the Carlo s own rotation. So Nelly by Ifie number kill pack Lel Scopes Are Luil Orion of the largest in the United Smiros but rarely have no Many powerful instruments been arrayed Al a single site. Al Kilt Peak astronomy13 a culture a set of traditions. 3 continuing Bailie with uncertainly and Latigue a Way of Lilc that leaves Only a faint official Trace in the astronomy of scientific journals. You Are at the Center of u s. Astronomy when you Are on this Mountain by any said Lewis Hobbs. Visiting from the University of Chicago s Yerkes Observatory. Hobbs had blown in to work with Catherine Pilachowski on the 2 1 Meler Telescope. Pm Peak s second largest exploring a Young Star Cluster Pilachowski. Almost vanishing in the grip of a big reclining chair thai was the Only touch of Comfort in he control room unpacked a Pink of Pistachio ice Cream an Apple and a banana to gel tense and need she said. Along Wilh then Telescope operator George will they went through a familiar routing preparing for the Long Winter night. The worst is Between i and 3, when i trunk it s never going to Pilachowski said. Then i Slart worn ing about How Many stars can t lit in and can i time the Las one just right so that it will to Dona when the Sun comes sealed in the control loom they could see neither the stars they study nor the Telescope they operate balanced to Pivot smoothly As it tracks its Large the four meter the size of an upended truck weighs 375 tons to wheel unon arc across the sky a cheap one half horsepower electric motor is enough. At night tall each dome opens to the sky. Exhaust tans come on driving out the Day s heat. Astronomers calibrate their instruments shining while lights on them and checking the computer readouts. Thirty minutes past Sunset viewing begins. The astronomers choose a Bright Star to guide then tracking. They Pray for Good seeing they worry at Vout the instruments. The Jay worry about the weather. There s our set up Pilachowski said. That does t look As Good As i thought it would said Hobbs thai looks Yucky Lousy " shreds of Clouds or columns of turbulent air. Muddied the Star s display on the screen turning it into a lain. Nickel sired Blob instead at a Sharp dime sued Blob. Pilachowski turned to the Lel scope operator that la improve won t in. George9" she said of sure said hobos us1 press the improve seeing Button in the console As contraptions of Iclal and Glass no matter Toiv Enqu Isileli machined Lel Scopos Liko Iho Soal kill have improved hardly Al nil in the last Genera lion but the technologies iced of the Light collected by the Garcal mirrors have made a Small revolution in the night to night business of Button that improves seeing has not yol been invented still electronic Dot Clors have mostly replaced photographic film As recipients of Iho Tail beams fit Light. Computers aim the Lel Scopos and Analyse the data As they arrive. Trie Days Whon an astronomer could learn something by actually pulling Eye to eyepiece Are Long gone Star truck astronomer Catharine Poloch swim atop a tilt copt it Kytt pm National of re cry. Sunday March 13, 19bb the stars and stripes Page 13
