Whipple Observatory

There are at least a dozen observatories in Arizona with the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory being the closest to where we are staying in Green Valley (just south of Tucson).  As the crow flies, it's about 10 miles away, but twice that far when driving.  The main telescope, a 6.5 meter (256") reflecting telescope, is located at the top of Mt. Hopkins at 8,585'.  Caroline was not thrilled with going, so I went by myself.  The visitor center is 11 miles from the top.  They have a bus that takes visitors to the top.  The main reason: about 7 to 8 miles of it is a narrow one lane road.  They use 2 way radios between the top, the bus and the visitor center to keep track of whose on the road.  The road is not wide enough in many places for even a 3 point turn around, so they have to make sure only one vehicle is on the road at any given time.  There was a warning in the brochure that anyone not accustomed to mountain roads should not go.  I thought, it can't be that bad - but it was.  I was fine, but I could see where some folks might get a little queezy.  There were many places where you could not see the side of the road !

Mt. Hopkins from Green Valley. You can just see a little white dot at the top of the mountain; that's the observatory. The feature to the left of center is Elephant Head Mountain.

The visitor center


Some of the road on the way up.   There are 2 silver domes in the middle of the photo. They are for a 1.5 meter (60") and a 1.2   meter (48") reflecting telescope.

A little windy at 7,000'.

Getting close.

Not far from the top was this 12 meter (472") reflecting telescope used to detect gamma rays.

Gamma rays my foot, they found an alien !!

We had to bring our own lunch.  This is the picnic area near the top.  You can still see snow around the covered table in the background.

The housing for the 6.5 meter telescope.

The 6.5 meter mirror.  It was hard to get a good photo. It was very cramped inside; just enough room for the telescope.  It is kept covered until it's time to observe.

A view from the top looking west.  The white building to the leftis the visitor center.
A panorama looking north west.   The white area in the middle is part of an open pit copper mine. 

A closer look at the mine.  It is at least 3 miles long and 2 1/2 miles wide.What looks like a line that goes through the middle of the photo is I-19.  Between the mine and I-19 is Green Valley.