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Summer is traditionally the time for maintenance work at research observatories, not just because the warm weather makes outdoor work easier, but because the short summer nights mean that comparatively little observing time is lost when the telescope is temporarily out of service. This summer has been a very busy one at MIRA’s Oliver Observing Station. Some of the work was strictly maintenance, such as replacing the wind turbine’s bearings. This is something of a mundane task, but essential to operations and quite costly: crane rental for a day’s work atop Chews Ridge costs over $1,000.00.I |
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| The OOS wind turbine is hoisted by crane
(left), lowered to the ground (above) by Renewable Technologies workers. (Photos by Ivan Eberle) |
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In this category, too, is the repair of our ancient electrical inverter, which went into one of its periodic convulsions in late July. It was repaired by MIRA’s engineer, Stan Karas. We hope to find funding for a modern inverter, which should prove to be more reliable. |
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| More exciting and productive from a scientific point of view was Bruce Weaver’s installation of the new CCD camera on the 36" spectrograph. The spectrum itself (blue to the right) is displayed below. | |
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| Certainly the most delicate operation was the removal of the 36" telescope’s secondary mirror and focusing ram (below). This 125-lb. unit was gently eased from its mounting and driven to the Hamming Astronomy Center, where it was crated and shipped to DFM Engineering in Colorado. After rebuilding the focusing mechanism and recoating the mirror with fresh aluminum, Dr. Frank Melsheimer will reinstall the unit in time for the best observing time of the year, late summer and fall. MIRA’s astronomers are going to be busy! | |
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 Go back to Summer 2000 Newsletter index | MIRA home Last updated 1/16/01 et |
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