The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 70, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 1981 Page: 4 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: North Texas Daily / The Campus Chat and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Libraries Special Collections.
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PAGE 4—THE NORTH TEXAS DAILY
Friday, February 13,1981
Telescope lights up cosmos
in big way for stargazer
Editor's Note: In the mountains in
remote west Texas are four "time
machines." They tell us of the universe
millions of years ago, before the first
human walked on earth.
FORT DAVIS (AP)—Tom Barnes
frequently stays up all night long in an
unheated room looking back in time
millions, even billions of years.
He wears a coat and gloves. He works
weekends and holidays. He sometimes
skips meals because he is so busy.
Yet he said he has one of the best jobs
in the world.
He is an astronomer and assistant
director of the McDonald Observatory
near Fort Davis. Because of mind-
boggling distances in space and the
limited speed of light, he said, the obser-
vatory's four telescopes act like time
machines.
"The farther out in space you look,
the farther back in time you go because
it takes so long for the light from distant
galaxies to reach Earth," explained
Barnes, 36.
For instance, he said it takes light
from the Andromeda Galaxy two mil-
lion years to reach Earth, so when we
look at it in the night sky, we see what it
looked like two million years ago, when
man was still in the process of evolving
from apes.
"ANYBODY WHO does astronomy
for a living has to feel the awe," Barnes
said. "You look at the stars all night
long, night after night, and you can't
help but think, 'Who's looking back?' "
Barnes said the possibilities of other
forms of life in the universe abound.
However, back on Earth, while look-
ing at remote galaxies and con-
templating such thoughts, "it does get
cold in there. It got down to 23 degrees
last night." The telescopes must be kept
in large, open-air rooms to prevent air
turbulence from distorting the images.
Students visit
Baptist meeting
this weekend
Forty-three NT students will attend a
Leadership Training Conference today
through Sunday at Hardin Simmons
University in Abilene.
The theme of the conference is
"Prepared Under God," Shirley Mat-
thews, coordinator of special events for
the Baptist Student Center, said.
"This will be a real time of growth and
time to get to know the BSC family," she
said.
Speakers for the conference will in-
clude Dr. William Hendricks of the
faculty at Golden Gate Baptist
Theological Seminary in Mill Valley,
Calif.; Dr. Charles Ashby of the faculty
at Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar,
Mo.; and Dr. Bill Sherman, pastor from
Nashville, Tenn.
Scheduled activities include seminars
on missions, international students,
socials and Bible studies, Miss Matthews
said.
Dr. Russell Ware, BSC director, will
lead worship and prayers at the con-
ference.
Sharon Matthews, assistant BSC
director, will be master of ceremonies
for a talent show Saturday night.
Dr. Ware estimated 2,500 students
will attend the statewide conference.
People who want more information
can telephone the BSC at 387-6331 for
more information. The trip will cost $15.
"You have to have a reaJ enthusiasm
for what you're doing to put up with
these working conditions," he said while
sipping coffee in the observatory's dor-
mitory, iocated a few feet from the
world's 12th largest telescope. Its reflec-
tive concave mirror is 107 inches in
diameter.
Astronomers sleep, eat and play pool
or Ping-Pong in the dormitory during
the day, and work all night. Time on
each telescope is considered precious—
every telescope is used every clear night
of the year, "including Christmas,"
Barnes said.
Members of the public are allowed to
look through the large telescope only on
the last Wednesday of each month.
"You have to make reservations, and
we're booked up through April," Becky
McKee, who runs the visitors' center at
the bottom of Mount Locke, said. She
said 30,000 to 50,000 tourists visit an-
nually.
ONLY 100 people a month are al-
lowed to look through the telescope.
When they do, all except those who
know what to expect usually are disap-
pointed at what they see—a few dots of
light here and there, distant stars and
two red crosshairs.
"It takes an expert to appreciate it,
really," Mrs. McKee said.
Barnes said for spectacular sights, the
nighttime sky seen with the naked eye
from the observatory grounds is hard to
beat. The telescopes were built in the
Davis Mountains at the highest point on
the Texas highway system, 6,800 feet
above sea level. Barnes said it is one of
the best places in the nation to star gaze.
"We have a minimum of chemical
pollution and 'light pollution,' " he said.
Fort Davis has an ordinance limiting
outdoor lights.
Barnes does not sit at the telescope
and wander around the universe ad lib.
Before each night, he charts out a series
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The First 20
People Dressed
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Just Arrived!
New Binders
3 ring with North Texas Emblem
Green binder with gold seal
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$450
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of objects he wants to see and gives the
list to a technician, who in turn aims the
telescope at the objects one at a time un-
til dawn.
Some objects in outer space are
believed to be as far away as 15 billion
light years—meaning the light that is
now reaching Earth shows us what the
object looked like 10 billion years before
the birth of our own five-billion-year-old
sun.
Barnes said the time warp is one thing
scientists use to try to figure out the
origin of the universe.
"AS YOU look deeper and deeper
into space, you get closer to the begin-
ning of the universe," Barnes said.
He said according to some theories
the galaxies in the universe are believed
to be expanding at astronomical speeds,
like a hand grenade exploding. Barnes
said because nothing can go faster than
the speed of light, no one could ever
reach the edge of the universe.
"There is no physical edge to the un-
iverse. It's not like coming to a wall,"
Barnes said.
As you look farther and farther out,
"you see galaxies that are younger and
younger, until eventually, you'll run out
of galaxies."
He and other observatory officials are
trying to obtain funding for a proposed
$40 million, 300-inch telescope at Mc-
Donald.
I ■
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* ! *
« 1
Photo by BILL JONES
SIGN OF THE TIMES?—Mark Replogle, Perryton
junior, observes writing on the window of Mulberry's
Disco at 125 Ave. A. The sign has been up since last
summer. The temperature in Denton was in the teens
Thursday morning, but it is expected to rise into the 50s
today.
Monday-Thursday
8 a.m.-6 p.m.
Friday
8 a.m.-5 p.m.
You can't miss . . .
Daisies won't tell, but valentines do. If confession
is good for the soul, then you can fess up in hun-
dreds of loving ways to the
one you love heart 'n' soul.
\ Here's a few
>
T E A
ROSE
The essence of roses . .
packaged to give. From the
Tea Rose fragrance collec-
tion. Shown: Fau de Toillette
Spray, 1 fl. oz. 15.00. Cos
rnetics.
Candy — the traditional sweets to the sweet. Valen
tine chocolates in assorted sizes. From 3.25 to 20.00
At Home.
Echo® pure silk
scarves. (above
16"xl6" scarf with
hearts design. Gift
boxed. 10.00. (Left)
Oblong silk crepe
scarf, 9"xl4". Heart
motif. 13.00. Fashion
Etc.
v\
Starbrites by Danecraft.
^ Austrian crystal on 14K gold-filled jewe
^ ry. Earrings on surgical posts, 1
Shown:, heart-shaped drop in 16' cha
S 1 7.50. Fashion Etc
%• . t
Echo's® jewel of a scarf slide
Gold plated heart is a scarf
ring. Comes in a velvet pouch.
1 2.00. Fashion Etc
-V-iYI
10:00 to 9:00
Golden Triangle Mall
Denton
mc' '
Hearts n' Flowers.
Embroidered cot-
ton handkerchiefs
from Switzerland.
Choose from 6
beautiful designs.
5.00 each. Fashion
Etc.
1 1
I
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Ware, Sharon. The North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 70, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 1981, newspaper, February 13, 1981; Denton, TX. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth332564/m1/4/?q=%22North+Texas+State+University+--+Newspapers.%22: accessed June 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.