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McDonald Observatory Field Trip: Day 2

 Here's what happened on the 2nd day of our annual trip.


  • Cloudy skies. Not great for seeing the stars, but made our walks more pleasant
The top of Mt. Locke

  • We saw two of the big telescopes: The Harlan J. Smith and the Hobby Eberly.
Fun fact: this telescope was shot by a mentally disturbed astronomer in the 70's.

  • Students went to a grocery store to get lunch. It's fun to see what they get when they can get whatever. Some interesting options: A can of beans, a whole coconut, a ball of soft mozzarella eaten like an apple.
  • After lunch, we did some hiking, resting, and more hiking.
Students not pictured. They went too fast and left us adults behind.



Aura farming? I don't know what these kids do.

  • A couple of interesting coincidences today. One of our chaperones ran into a astronomer who we had seen at Little Caesars on Thursday. And at the Friday star party, we saw a Savio student on vacation with her family!
  • The clouds prevented us from seeing any stars at the star party. They did alternate programming instead (some of which we had already done earlier in the day). We didn't stay too long.
  • The taco place that was closed on Day 1 was open this time, so half of our group went there. It took much longer than those of us who went to the diner, but I hear the food was much better.

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