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Manastash Ridge Observatory History by Julie Lutz

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Manastash Ridge Observatory History by Julie Lutz Manastash Ridge Observatory History by Julie Lutz MRO Site Survey: Western Washington has a well-deserved reputation for clouds and rainy weather. Hence, the desirability of an observatory for professional astronomers in Washington state was not instantly obvious. However, a drive to the east side of the Cascade mountains yields much better weather. Long time University of Washington (UW) astronomer Theodor Jacobson started thinking about convenient telescope access for faculty and students when the university decided to expand astronomy dramatically in the mid-1960s. When the first UW astronomy department chair George Wallerstein arrived in 1965, he immediately started a campaign to get a research telescope. Wallerstein came to UW from Berkeley where faculty and Ph.D. students had ready access to telescopes, including a productive 20-inch. He felt strongly that a high-quality research telescope in Washington state would help create a high-quality astronomy department. A grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) provided enough money to purchase automated cameras for a site survey and a 16-inch Boller and Chivens telescope. The eastern side of the Cascade mountains was the obvious region to survey for the best telescope location. The site had to be within reasonable driving distance of the UW Seattle campus and have road access on at least a dirt/gravel track. Founding telescope engineer and jack-of-all-trades Ed Mannery surveyed severall locations during 1965/66. The best site turned out to be Manastash Ridge on US Forest Service land southwest of Ellensberg. However, Rattlesnake Mountain on the Hanford Reservation (owned by the US Department of Energy) outside of Richland had a developed road and readily-available electricity. It was a longer drive from Seattle (5 hours) than Manastash Ridge (3 hours), but the site also had a building available already where observers could sleep and cook meals. In 1967 a 16-inch Boller and Chivens telescope was installed in a dome built atop Rattlesnake Mountain with NSF grant funds and observing began. Faculty and graduate students began to use the telescope equipped with a DC photometer and a Brown chart recorder for research projects and theses. By 1970 a scanning spectrometer covering wavelengths from 3000 to 10,000 A was added. The 16-inch was moved to the current MRO building in spring 1971 and used there for about a year. MRO Beginnings: Wallerstein and his faculty colleagues aspired to replace the 16-inch at Rattlesnake Mountain with a larger telescope at Manastash Ridge as soon as possible. A drawback of the Rattlesnake Mountain location was the restriction on access to the Hanford Reservation. Plus, there were high winds (once clocked at 100 mph), not to mention the rattlesnakes! In 1971 Wallerstein was on sabbatical at Berkeley. He was at the time Principal Investigator on a proposal to the NSF to install a telescope at Manastash Ridge. Wallerstein discovered that Berkeley's Hat Creek Radio Observatory had an unused 30-inch optical mirror. Wallerstein engineered what he refers to as a “horse trade”. Berkeley gave UW the 30-inch mirror. UW got some funding from NSF. UW provided additional funds and traded in the 16-inch telescope to Boller and Chivens. The Berkeley 30-inch mirror was installed in a Boller and Chivens mount, and the observatory building and dome were designed and constructed. David Nordfors of the UW was responsible for designing and overseeing the construction of the building and dome. The idea was that observers would need to be self-sufficient in the remote site. Cooking facilities, a living room, bathrooms and sleeping rooms were all part of the design. The building construction started in spring 1970 and was completed in October of that year. The 16- inch telescope was moved to Manastash Ridge and was used for observing until the 30-inch was installed. An observing techniques course (Astronomy 581) was offered each summer quarter for graduate students. The course included taking some data at MRO and doing data reductions and analysis. The 30-inch telescope was installed in October 1971 and a dedication ceremony was held on May 22, 1972. The name Manastash Ridge Observatory (MRO) was the simple and natural choice for the facility. Telescope and Equipment: The telescope itself hasn't changed much over the years. The control system has been updated several times as hardware and software improve. People who used MRO long ago may have some not-so-fond memories of trying to get the dome closed or the filter slide jamming. MRO users today still know the joys and pains of using a “real” telescope system, one that can have a major failure or minor hassle at any time, but usually behaves itself. MRO started out with a dry-ice-cooled photometer, a spectrum scanner and a simple spectrograph that used photographic plates. Because of the latter, there is a small darkroom in the observatory, now used for storage. Wallerstein was interested in high-dispersion spectroscopy, so a room that could accommodate a coude spectrograph was put into the building, but this was never installed. Back in the early 1970s there weren't a lot of photometric filter systems in use. MRO had UBVr and Stebbins and Whitford 6-color filters available for users. However, in the late 1970s MRO played a key role in observations to establish a new filter system that would enable photometric studies of the metal abundances of stars, Washington photometry. It was first discussed in a paper by UW graduates Hugh Harris and Ron Canterna in a 1979 paper in the Astronomical Journal. Old-timers will recall the logo “Washington Photometry: Abundances You Can't Refuse” emblazoned on t-shirts. This photometric system remains in use by various groups world-wide today. Later, narrow-band filters to observe emission line objects were added to the filter inventory. The SDSS filter set (ugriz) has been in constant use in recent years. In addition to the photometer, MRO had a spectrum scanner. A basic spectrograph was available to train graduate students in spectral classification and the joys of handling glass photographic plates. The scanner and the spectrograph faded from view by the late 1970s and photometry dominated for many years. The photometer was upgraded several times with better detectors (pulse-counting and then CCDs), cooling devices (liquid nitrogen, Cryotiger) and instrument control software. Current MRO information is available at http://www.astro.washington.edu/users/laws/MRO/home.page/mro.html MRO Support and Infrastructure: The Directors and Associate Directors George Wallerstein, (UW Emeritus Professor of Astronomy) was Director of MRO from 1972 until 1990. The position then passed to Paula Szkody (UW Professor of Astronomy) who served until 2002. Paula has been a user of MRO since she was in graduate school at UW in the early 1970s. Over the years she had many students, both graduate students and undergraduates, doing observations of cataclysmic variables at the observatory. Julie Lutz (UW Emeritus Research Professor of Astronomy) has directed MRO from 2002 to the present. Julie used the scanner at MRO in the mid-1970s to observe symbiotic stars and has since had undergraduates and high school teachers doing photometry of symbiotics and a search for planetary nebulae in open star clusters. Chris Laws (UW Astronomy Lecturer) was appointed Associate Director in 2004. Chris was a TA at MRO during his graduate student years at UW and has taught the undergraduate observing techniques course several times. The Engineers Founding MRO Engineer Ed Mannery was followed by David Jenner, Pat Waddell and Jeff Morgan, all top-notch technical people devoted to keeping MRO a state-of-the-art astronomical facility, even with restricted budgets and manpower. As UW astronomy got involved in larger telescopes (3.5-m and SDSS), it was increasingly difficult to justify a state-supported engineering salary for MRO while the university was providing major funding for other astronomical facilities. This difficulty was solved several years ago by having the MRO Associate Director Chris Laws' funding tied to the academic budget in recognition that MRO is an integral part of undergraduate education in astronomy. The Roads: There used to be two approach roads to MRO, the north road and the south road. The north road was the shorter way to the observatory. In 2004 the state Department of Fish and Wildlife closed the north road. That road crosses a creek right after turning off the main paved road. Fish and Wildlife contended that cars on this road kick up dirt that might damage the salmon (?!) in the creek. No comment. So we are left with the south road, about a 45-minute longer drive. The following adjectives can be applied to the MRO access road at various times: rutted, muddy, dusty, snow covered, slippery, icy and rocky. Quite a few tires have developed punctures while navigating the access roads. One vehicle fell off a steep slope and another caught on fire going up the north road. Cars have been mired in the mud and snow. Getting to MRO has always been part of the adventure. MRO Security: For many years MRO has been surrounded by a fence with a padlocked gate, but that hasn't stopped occasional break-ins on the property. In particular, thieves have taken tools that are kept at the observatory to facilitate repairs and replacements. Shooting at the MRO building or at the sign on the fence has been another popular activity. In the early years observers often kept the building door open at night and received occasional visitors, but currently the practice is generally to lock the gate and the door. Living at MRO: The MRO site is isolated, so observers must be able to cook, eat and sleep in the building.
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