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LOWELL OBSERVER | Winter 2012 1 THE LOWELL OBSERVER | Winter 2012 LOWELL EXPANDING OUR UNIVERSE OBSERVER The quarterly newsletter of Lowell Observatory Issue 93 Winter 2012 Eyes on the Mountain by Tom Vitron In November, Dr. Deidre Hunter and predoctoral fellow Hongxin Zhang spent four nights observing dwarf irregular galaxies for the LITTLE THINGS* survey with the 4-meter Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, southwest of Tucson. They graciously invited me to join them for a night of this Dwarf galaxy d50; observed by Dr. Deidre Hunter and Hongxin Zhang “observing run” and I pounced on the Image Credit: Lowell intern Lauren Hill opportunity with little hesitation. For Mayall’s dome stands out above the look out the Mayall dome’s vents, a them, data collected with the Mayall rest of Kitt Peak. Once upstairs in retrofit planned and implemented by will add to the wealth of insights being the control room, it was a sight to Lowell’s Dr. Phil Massey when he was gleaned about these special galaxies. behold: various tall structures of Kitt Peak’s 4-meter telescope scientist; For me, it represents the continuation different shapes and sizes jut out from the vents have improved temperature of a charmed life for a lucky astronomy the plateau, and that’s just the array control, allowing for sharper imaging. geek. of coffee-making gear found in the As sunset nears, all the telescopes (save In the span of a year (1985-86), the control room’s kitchen area. Once the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope) came suburban astronomical naivete of my calibration concluded, Dr. Hunter to life. It’s an orchestral deployment of early youth dissipated as I saw Saturn toured me around the telescope like world-class instruments, each surveying through the 24” Clark Refractor and a proud parent or a pilot showing off different objects in various parts of the caught a glimpse of Halley’s Comet her gleaming machine. The Mayall is at l’Observatoire de Paris, Meudon. a special telescope and one that the continued on page 4 Getting to spend a night in the control Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) room of the Mayall at Kitt Peak ranks project team looked at as a reference. IN THIS ISSUE alongside these previous experiences Since it saw first light in 1973, the and was a privilege I did not take for Mayall has been a cutting-edge 4-meter 1 Eyes on the Mountain granted. telescope, as the DCT will be when 2 Director’s Letter As I neared “the mountain with it becomes operational this year. (The 3 Moon Mapping at Lowell eyes” in the early afternoon, the 4-meter Blanco telescope at the Cerro calmest sense of giddiness swept over Tololo Inter-American Observatory in 5 DCT Agreements me. After finding the dormitory and Chile is a twin of the Mayall.) 6 Profile Stories quietly settling in as others concluded After a quick dinner in the their slumber, the three of us headed main cafeteria, we headed back to 7 TIME World’s 100 Most Important Places to the telescope for calibration around get positioned before the sun set. 4 p.m. Perched 18 stories high, the Dr. Hunter and I took one more 2 THE LOWELL OBSERVER | Winter 2012 anonymous, but that’s not appropriations – but that’s to all. The historian Will the case. As I work through only part of the reason for Durant, in the opening the stacks of renewal Lowell’s efforts in creating pages of his 11-volume thank-you letters, I’m connections to the private magnum opus, put this always struck by how many sector. concept as beautifully as I’ve of the names I recognize, Federal appropriations ever seen it: Education, he even if I’ve never met you. and distribution via peer wrote, may be defined as the Gifts both large and small review will remain a useful technique of transmitting come with names I know and necessary method of civilization. Forging direct I’ve seen before: Oh yes, enabling large programs and conduits between our Director’s there are those names handling the management research and all of you who Update from Texas, and here’s of many individual enable it is not merely a this family from Illinois. investigator projects, but means to supporting our by Jeffrey Hall I take the letters back to the several steps between mission, but an integral part Jonathan Wilkendorf in your tax dollar and a grant of that mission. the development office disbursement’s arriving in Therefore, in 2012, we’ll for mailing, feeling quite one of our astronomers’ continue our daily programs, L ast month, I finished up grateful for all of you project accounts creates tours, and telescope viewing my day by signing an especially who help us carry out our a barrier – not solid, but for tens of thousands of large stack of thank-you letters mission. definitely a bit opaque – visitors and K-12 students. to our Friends who had renewed I can’t overstate the between the enablers and You’ll see a growing effort their Lowell membership, and importance of our Friends’ the practitioners of science. targeted at youth, from as the end of 2011 approached, involvement and engagement Percival Lowell saw the value online videos for very small a steady stream of these letters in enabling basic science. of scientific inquiry as a kids to summer camps for continued to arrive on my Our scientific staff does partnership with the public, grade schoolers and unique desk. Thanks to the continued very well in winning NASA as we at his observatory learning opportunities efforts of Rusty Tweed and the and National Science do today. Astronomers, to for high school students. outreach staff who make such a Foundation grants for their put it succinctly, educate If you visit Lowell, you fine impression on our visitors, research, but the funding themselves about the might run into one of our our ranks of Friends continue prognosis heading into cosmos and if their pursuit astronomers answering to grow, now at 2,300 and 2012 and beyond is grim is to thrive among the next questions at our evening climbing. and competition for each generation of scientists, it is programs. And in June, our You might imagine that federal dollar gets ever imperative to communicate relationship with Discovery in such a large support group stiffer. Your donations help that education transparently Communications will reach any one person might be fairly buffer us against fluctuating full speed with the airing of the first prime-time feature While many of us on the Discovery Channel were braving the Telescope. Flagstaff cold to In 1994, our then- see this event new Steele Visitor Center Lowell board vastly increased our ability member Michael to transmit the wonder and significance of what Beckage took we do. In 2012, we, our these gorgeous institutional partners, and images of the lunar Discovery will extend this eclipse from Maui reach still further. We on 12/10/11. He are perfectly positioned used a Canon to transmit our part of 20D attached to civilization, and we could a 95mm Vixen not (and should not) do it telescope. without you. THE LOWELL OBSERVER | Winter 2012 3 was not available for a regular and today is known as the Hendricks Mapping the Moon observing program, contacted Lowell Building and serves as the headquarters for by Kevin Schindler & William Sheehan Observatory on the advice of USNO the Discovery Channel Telescope. director (and future Lowell director) ACIC’s expansion also resulted in the Art Hoag. Lowell director John Hall need for another telescope for making lunar hen John F. Kennedy gave W offered Cannell the use of the Clark observations. In 1963 Observatory director his stirring and now legendary “We 24-inch refractor and soon Cannell John Hall and trustee Roger Putnam Choose to go to the Moon” speech and assistants made monthly observing arranged to purchase a 20-inch Tinsley on September 12, 1962, he galvanized trips to Lowell. Due to this early refractor from Texas oilman Benjamin Americans to combine their collective success, the ACIC contracted with Morgan. After the telescope was moved to talents, ambitions, and skills toward Lowell for a long-range observing Flagstaff it was dedicated on April 15, 1964 the common goal of landing people project and on September 1, 1961 and used by ACIC observers until the end on the moon. Over the ensuing years established an office at Lowell in the of the program. an estimated 400,000 individuals old machine shop just south of the The ACIC office operated at Lowell worked on the diverse efforts required wooden garage. from 1961 through 1969. During this time, to meet this challenge. In Flagstaff Cannell ran the office and was staff produced drawings for more than 60 alone, scientists, engineers, and joined by observer James Greenacre and lunar charts. Also, thanks to the efforts of others built and tested equipment, Patricia Bridges, a scientific illustrator cartographer Jay Inge, ACIC developed a trained astronauts, and developed and cartographer. Greenacre made 16-inch lunar globe. A highlight for many communications procedures. At Lowell, telescopic observations and then shared of Lowell’s ACIC staff was the 1963 visit scientists and artists combined forces on these with Bridges, who reviewed by the second group of NASA astronauts, another relevant project: mapping the them along with photographs of the the “Next Nine,” which included America’s moon. moon. Using pens and an airbrush, first space walker Ed White and future In 1959 the U.S. Air Force’s she then rendered drawings that moonwalkers Neil Armstrong, Pete Conrad, Aeronautical Chart and Information accurately depicted lunar features.
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