Harlan J. Smith Telescope
- Harlan J. Smith Telescope
The Harlan J. Smith Telescope is a 2.7m (107-in.) telescope located at the McDonald Observatory (coord|30.681|N|104.015|W|type:landmark). This telescope is one of several research telescopes that are part of the University of Texas at Austin observatory perched atop Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains of west Texas. The telescope was completed in 1968 with substantial NASA assistance, and is named after Harlan James Smith, the first Texas director of McDonald Observatory. Smith was the Observatory Director for 26 years.
Gunshots
In 1970, a disgruntled new worker brought his handgun into the observatory and fired a shot at his Superior and then fired the remaining rounds into the Primary Mirror. The disturbed man was arrested and taken to the Psychiatric Hospital and the bullets were bored out and painted black. The news made the CBS News With Walter Cronkite the next day. The holes effectively reduced the convert|107|in|m|sing=on telescope the equivalent of a convert|105|in|m|sing=on telescope. It did not affect the quality of the images it makes, just the amount of light it can collect.
References
* [http://www.astr.ua.edu/keel/telescopes/mcdonald.html Telescope Shot]
# [http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/McDonaldObs.html Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy & Spaceflight home page] - Accessed 28 March 2006
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