Tuesday, October 9th - Thunderstorms at the GBT
Our morning began with the typical Starbucks caffeine adjustment before we headed west from Leesburg, VA to Green Bank, WV. The uncommonly warm weather in October did not encourage the trees to turn to the traditional fall colors. The hints of orange, yellow and red in the rolling hills seemed more like September, than the middle of October.
As we pulled off the 3 lane freeway onto a 2 lane highway, we quickly realized that we were in for a good dose of Americana, as we began the climb up into the Shenandoah mountains. Whitewashed fences, perfectly kept homes dotted the winding road, and announced the many small hamlets that we wound our way through, seeking our destination, the National Radio Observatory at Green Bank.
As we passed the road sign “3 miles to Green Bank” it seemed of little use as the Green Bank Telescope, the world’s largest steerable object, leaped from the valley floor, dwarfing the surrounding mountains, barns and grain silos. This structure stands as tall as the Washington Monument, and the dish is over 2 ½ acres in size. We would soon learn from our host, Michael Holstine, that this structure could easily hold the University of West Virginia’s football team. Complete awe was expressed by Anita and myself at this moment. Neither one of us expected the reaction that this modern wonder of the world had on us.
We quickly met up with our hosts, Mike and Dr. Butler Burton, who would both provide us with a wonderful education on the history of radio astronomy. This young science, only recently born in the 1940s, has revealed much of the universe unseen 350 years prior.
After our interview with Dr. Burton, we had the amazing opportunity, due to scheduled maintenance on the GBT to actually go onto the telescope. This journey to the prime focus cage required 2 elevator rides. The first was a mere 5 stories, as we transited onto a catwalk. Then onto another elevator that should probably be called a vinicular due to the diagonal ascent onto the prime focus cage. As the door was raised open, we stepped out onto the open-air grating. 425 feet above the ground seemed more like a thousand. Below stretched the acres of panels and engineering that made this one of the most sensitive telescopes in the world, and unquestionably the largest movable telescope in existence. Beyond that, we could easily see the other historical operating telescopes that dotted the small valley floor. Anita and I quickly went into action with our cameras, to capture the majesty and awe of this engineering marvel. Mike and Dr. Burton proceeded to tag team us with information about the telescope, ranging from the sensitivity of the panels, to the various detectors that could be used to sense the weak radio signals that have journeyed across the universe to be collected by this telescope.
Soon our lovely day was breeched by unseasonable thundershowers that closed in and canceled my anticipated evening of photographing the GBT. After a quick consultation with Mike and the offer to accommodate us Saturday night, we changed our schedule to return in hopes of clear weather. It is my goal to try to capture this incredible structure against the background of the Milky Way.