* Astronomy

The 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope, HET, is one of the largest optical telescopes in the world. (More videos about this group of telescopes will be added.) It has the second largest mirror in the world, 36 feet across, but not all of the mirror is operational. It now ranks as the fourth largest telescope in the world. Its cost is about 20% that of other similarly-sized telescopes. It cost only around 20 million dollars (the mirror itself, if not mosaic, would cost around 100 million dollars).

The observatory operates several research telescopes including the:
9.2 m (360") Hobby-Eberly Telescope, HET
2.7 m (107") Harlan J. Smith Telescope
2.1 m (82") Otto Struve Telescope
0.8 m (30") large format imaging telescope
A 0.9 m (36") telescope, formerly used for research, is now used for visitor programs.

ITT Fabricated the world's largest segmented mirror for Hobby-Eberly Telescope:

The McDonald Observatory is located near Fort Davis in Jeff Davis County, Texas. It is located on Mount Fowlkes and Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of West Texas. Its high, dry peaks of make for some of the darkest and clearest night skies in the country and provide excellent conditions for astronomical research.
It is the property of the University of Texas at Austin and is equipped with a wide range of instrumentation for imaging and spectroscopy in the optical and infrared spectra. It operates the first lunar laser ranging station.
Its 2.1 m telescope, dedicated on May 5, 1939, was the second largest telescope in the world.
The HET is operated jointly by the University of Texas at Austin, Stanford University, Pennsylvania State University, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, and Georg-August University of Göttingen. The McDonald Observatorys research encompasses a wide variety of projects, including planetary systems, stellar spectroscopy, the interstellar medium, extragalactic astronomy, and theoretical astronomy.
It also hosts one of the four globally networked Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment (ROTSE) telescopes, and is a Monitoring Network of Telescopes (MONET) site.

ITT Fabricated the world's largest segmented mirror for Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The 11m-diameter mirror is a major component of the world's first major telescope designed specifically for spectroscopy

McDonald Observatory, Department of Astronomy Complete $2 Million Director's Chair Endowment
With the help of 141 donors and the Abell-Hanger Foundation of Midland, The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and Department of Astronomy have completed the new $2-million “Frank and Susan Bash Endowed Chair for the Director of McDonald Observatory.”
Fundraising for the endowment began in 2003. In the spring of 2006, with $300,000 to be raised, the Abell-Hanger Foundation provided a challenge grant of $150,000, offering to match new gifts dollar-for-dollar. This enabled McDonald Observatory to complete the endowment by the end of September 2006.

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Astronomers are studying two sites at McDonald Observatory to find the prime location for a new federally funded telescope. Called the CCD Transit Instrument II (CTI-II), the 1.8-meter telescope will be part of the federal “NESSI” program — the Near Earth Space Surveillance Initiative.

The NESSI program is being funded by federal appropriations to The University of Texas at Austin, The University of New Mexico, and the Air Force. U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas) sponsored the appropriation. Mr. Bonilla represents the 23rd Congressional District, which encompasses much of West Texas, including McDonald Observatory.

"The important discoveries being made by researchers at the McDonald Observatory are improving the lives of so many here on Earth. I have been working for many years on obtaining this new technology for the McDonald Observatory which will vastly enhance its research potential and competitiveness, while providing quality jobs for the people of West Texas" - Congressman Henry Bonilla (R-Texas).

After the site is chosen, a groundbreaking ceremony for the 1.8-meter CTI-II telescope will soon follow.

The telescope is being designed and constructed at The University of New Mexico prior to shipping it to McDonald Observatory, where is will make some of the most precise measurements of the sky ever made. McDonald Observatory’s clear dark skies are ideal for this type of long-term measurement. The data from this telescope will support many additional astronomical projects, including providing training for Texas and New Mexico students.

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