Gallery: ASA Trip to McDonald 2014
As a reward for their service to the department, 12 Astronomy Student Association members were sent to McDonald Observatory in May. Despite some cloudy weather, they observed many objects from the Messier catalog with 36" telescope, and were able to capture images with the camera on the 30" telescope. They also attended a star party at the Visitor's Center and received "behind-the-scenes" tours of the major telescopes: Harlan J Smith, Otto Struve and HET. In addition, they were introduced to some of the lesser known but very interesting telescopes, like the LCOGT and ROTSE. Finally, they were able to witness the first night that the newly installed Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) was used on the 107".