Astronomy - USA (2020-08)

OPEN

CLOSED

SOUTH AFRICA

Southern African

Large Telescope

TEXAS

Hobby-Eberly Telescope

Harlan J. Smith Telescope

CALIFORNIA

Nickel Telescope

Shane Telescope

Hooker Telescope

Hale Telescope

NEW MEXICO

ARC Telescope

SDSS Telescope

ARIZONA

WIYN Telescope

Mayall Telescope

MMT Telescope

LBT

CALDERA DE TABURIENTE

Gran Telescopio Canarias

Isaac Newton Telescope

William Herschel Telescope

Nordic Optical Telescope

Telescopio Nazionale Galileo

CANARY

ISLANDS

CERRO PARANAL

VISTA

Kueyen Telescope

Melipal Telescope

Antu Telescope

Yepun Telescope

CERRO MANQUI

du Pont Telescope

Magellan Telescopes

AUSTRALIA
Anglo-Australian
Telescope

MAUNA KEA

UKIRT

Subaru Telescope

CFH Telescope

Gemini North

NASA IRTF

Keck I and II Telescopes

CHILE

LA SILLA

New Technology

Telescope

ESO 3.6-meter

Telescope

CERRO TOLOLO

Victor Blanco Telescope

CERRO PACHÓN

SOAR Telescope

Gemini South Telescope

CALAR ALTO

1.23-meter Telescope

2.2-meter Telescope

3.5-meter Telescope

Schmidt Telescope

RUSSIA

Bolshoi Azimuthal

Telescope

HALEAKALA

Pan-STARRS

SPAIN

HAWAII

historians say nothing like this has hap-

pened in the modern era of astronomy.

Even during the chaos of World War II,

telescopes kept observing.

But although modern observatories

are more automated, few can safely

operate during a pandemic. “We do

have some remote options, but the large

fraction of our astronomers still go to

the telescopes,” says Mulchaey, who also

oversees Las Campanas Observatory in

Chile and its Magellan Telescopes. “It’s

not as automated as you might think.”

However, astronomers still say they’re

confident they can find solutions to

reopen observatories. In April, Tony

Beasley, the National Radio Astronomy

Observatory (NRAO) director, said his

team was working on a long list of what

they’re calling “VSDs,” or violation of

social distancing problems. Their

workarounds typically involve finding

ways to have one person do something

that used to take an entire team.

NRAO operates the Very Large Array

in New Mexico and the global Very Long

Baseline Array. Beasley is also vice presi-

dent for Radio Astronomy Operations

for Associated Universities Inc., which

operates the Green Bank Telescope in

West Virginia. All three are still observ-

ing, thanks to remote operations and a

reimagined workflow. Although the new

workf low is not as efficient as it was in

the past, at the time of this writing, there

haven’t been any problems that couldn’t

be solved. And Beasley and others think

more interesting and valuable lessons

could still come out of the catastrophe.

“There’s always been kind of a sense

that you had to be in the building, and

you’ve got to stare the other people down

in the meeting,” he says. “In the space of

a month, I think everyone is surprised at

how effective they can be remotely. As we

get better at this over the next six months

or something, I think there will be parts

where we won’t go back to some of the

work processes from before.” — ERIC BETZ

WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 11

Despite widespread telescope closures

due to COVID-19, there’s no need to worry

about an incoming asteroid — at least, not

any more than usual. Earth’s top asteroid-

hunting instruments remain on the prowl

for potentially deadly space rocks.

NASA funds most major asteroid-hunting

efforts. The space agency has a congres-

sional mandate to find some 90 percent

of near-Earth objects larger than 460 feet

(140 meters) across. These objects consist

of comets and asteroids that get a little too

close for comfort.

The effort’s workhorse instruments are

Hawaii’s twin Panoramic Survey Telescope

and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS)

telescopes, as well as the three Catalina

Sky Survey telescopes in Arizona. Both of

those efforts continue. Likewise, NEOWISE,

a NASA space telescope repurposed to hunt

for near-Earth objects, is also still operating.

“We are an essential service, funded

by NASA, to help protect the Earth from

[an] asteroid impact,” says Ken Chambers,

director of the Pan-STARRS Observatories

in Hawaii. “We will continue that mission

as long as we can do so without putting

people or equipment at risk.”

Earth will get hit with a major asteroid

again; it’s just a question of when. And

that’s why astronomers think it’s important

to keep a constant watch, even during a

pandemic. Fortunately, there’s only a slim

chance humanity will have to face two

global crises at once. And that’s something

we can all be happy about. — E.B.

The search for dangerous asteroids continues

ACROSS THE MAP. The world’s premier optical

telescopes, shown here, had shut down in

droves by early April. Construction also halted

at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory site in Chile.

Sites that remained open at the end of April

appear in green. The Gemini North Telescope in

Hawaii reopened May 19 as the largest optical

telescope taking data. ASTRONOMY: ROEN KELLY

EARTH’S LARGEST OPTICAL TELESCOPES