|
Credit & Copyright: Greg Redfern
(2003
JPL NASA Solar System Ambassador)
Explanation:
What's wrong with this picture?
The summer night sky is clear, and
moonlight illuminates the dome of the
Hale 200-inch Telescope at
Palomar Observatory,
northeast of San Diego, California, USA.
The familiar stars of the
Teapot asterism in the constellation
Sagittarius
shine above the dome and to the right.
In fact, the only thing wrong with the picture is that
the observatory dome's two massive shutters
are closed tight ... on a clear night.
This extremely unusual situation is a precaution
prompted by the presence of airborne ash and smoke from
wildfires
in the area on July 17
which could have damaged the
historic mirror's aluminum coating.
Amateur astronomer Greg Redfern notes that this
year has been a particularly bad one for observatories and
wildfires, with the
Siding Spring
Australian Observatory
disaster and fires also threatening telescopes on
Mount
Lemmon near Tucson, Arizona.
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Observatory - Sagittarius
Publications with words: Observatory - Sagittarius
See also: