Looking Through Telescopes To Celebrate Civil Rights

Nathan had a Monday off this week, on account of it being Martin Luther King Jr. Day (it's known as Civil Rights Day in Arizona, because...naming the holiday after Reverend King wasn't cool with people here, or something?). Anyway, we decided to take a road trip to celebrate...we drove deep into the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation, to have a look at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, one of the largest and most famed astronomical observation sites on Earth.

We had visited Kitt Peak once before as a family a few years ago, when I was pregnant with Aurora. This was when Nathan worked for the Tohono O'odham Nation, and all the residents and staff were invited to the observatory for a special "O'odham Community Night." It was very crowded and noisy that time, but there was a nice dinner provided, and I got to meet several of Nathan's friends & coworkers in the Nation. In addition, our family provided about 95% of the white people for that particular event. We enjoyed ourselves quite a bit, even if we didn't get to officially sneak a peek inside one of the massive telescopes that dot the mountaintop. However, several amateur enthusiasts brought up their own telescopes, so we still got to see some heavenly bodies. It was a beautiful cool evening, and the view was magnificent.

Fast-forward to 2013! The drive to Kitt Peak took about an hour and a half, so the girls were growing pretty restless. Luckily, the observatory was mostly empty that morning, and they had plenty of room to wiggle and run.

 

There are three guided tours offered daily at Kitt Peak, and each one focuses on a different telescope. We arrived in time for the 10:30 tour, which begins with an orientation about the history of the entire observatory, and then takes visitors through the interestingly shaped McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope:

 Last time I visited Kitt Peak, I was struck at how different this telescope looked from the others. For one thing, it didn't have a domed opening, or any obvious telescope. For another, it looked like a giant surveyor's tool! As it turns out, the huge angled portion of the building is the top half of an enormous chamber into which the sunlight is reflected...it goes underground over 300 feet! The light is reflected up and down this chamber with a series of huge, highly polished mirrors, and it is studied in probably hundreds of different ways.

Looking into the tunnel...going down!

Upper portion of the shaft, complete with huge mirrors

The tiny visitor's deck was pretty cramped, and my view of the deep underground tunnel was a little obscured, but it was still pretty cool (although Lorelai got claustrophobic pretty quickly and wanted to get back outside right away). It looked like something out of a cool sci-fi film...except, you know, it's real life. Sadly, our tour guide informed us that the solar telescope is going offline (probably permanently) in October of this year, due to lack of funding. Sad that scientific research is so often poo-pooed in Washington and in the public consciousness; hopefully, another observatory will be able to continue the work elsewhere.

After checking out the deep tunnel, we went into another laboratory annex of the telescope, built underground near the foot of the tunnel. The entryway looked fairly nondescript...

...but then we had to walk down a long, slightly imposing tunnel to get to the lab. Maybe it was all the reddish lights, but it gave me a bit of the creeps.

Inside the lab, we were able to take a look at bunches of computer terminals, printouts, desks, diodes, switches, and so many different kinds of equipment that I wouldn't know where to begin. Nathan had to leave this room with Aurora after a very short time; we were very worried that she'd run around and start meddling with the equipment, which was all within her reach. One interesting table had a "reflection" of the sun's surface...

If you looked closely, you could see several sunspots and tiny irregularities on the image. Lorelai was pretty impressed. There was a scientist on-site when the tour group arrived, and he was able to provide a lot of explanation as to what was going on...but I'm sorry to say I wasn't able to listen to much of it due to chasing my kids around. Sigh...hopefully taking them on tours like this will eventually teach them manners and patience. Too bad I won't learn any new science in the bargain.

The view of the surrounding mountains is truly fantastic from atop Kitt Peak; this is a view of Baboquivari Peak (it's pronounced "ba-ba-KEE-vri"), a nearby mountain that's a very sacred place to the Tohono O'odham people.

After touring the solar telescope that the "professionals" use, it was time for us tourists to take a look through a solar telescope installed on Kitt Peak just for us! Just down the hill from the large telescope is a tiny cupola that houses two Coronado Solarmax telescopes that were installed as part of a public outreach program. Everybody got a turn looking through them...

...even the kids! I thought it was cool to look "directly at" the sun, and see its character and texture that lie behind its brightness. Once again, I saw several sunspots, and even a few solar prominences...not bad for such a "little" telescope!

We briefly entertained the notion of going on the afternoon tours, but the kids' restlessness ultimately made us decide against it. However, our yearlong membership means we will probably pay Kitt Peak another visit later on. Maybe next time, we will bring a picnic lunch and eat between the two later tours, so we can catch both! There are several picnic tables atop the peak, and the weather there is generally cooler than "down below" in Tucson.

Of course, the coolest thing of ALL would be to visit Kitt Peak at night, and see just how many stars they can see. Nighttime tours are available, but they are (unsurprisingly) MUCH more expensive than their daytime counterparts. The astronomy nerd in me would definitely like to try it sometime, though! I suppose I get that from my mother, who is a big science fiction nut, and who has always loved learning about stars, planets, and the galaxy. It has rubbed off on me a little, I guess!

Anyway, visiting Kitt Peak awakens that dreamer in me again. Maybe it has also done so for my children. While talking about the relative size of stars in our galaxy, Lorelai leaned over to me and whispered, "Mom, why did God make us so tiny?" It was a very profound question with no easy answers in this, our mortal condition. It reminded me that even if we are important beings to our Father in Heaven, we are indeed very small beings...there is a huge, amazing universe out there that I hope we can all someday explore more fully.