07-21-2019, 03:55 PM
Rob,
"I'd suggest painting all the observatories a color to match the cinder."
This is not a new idea, but it would create serious problems for the science the observatories do as well as increasing costs, er, astronomically. The reasons the observatories are white or silver is to reflect the sun's heat. If the domes were dark they would heat up significantly more than they do during the day. At night when they open, all that heat is released immediately above them which causes turbulence and you end up with extremely blurry images.
You could control the temperature inside the dome with A/C, and some observatories do, but that is an extremely expensive proposition and is not particularly green. Even that, though, doesn't entirely fix the problem as the outside of the dome would still be hot and still create problems with turbulence.
It's a nice idea, but would essentially end up making Mauna Kea a poor observing site whereas right now, it's one of the best if not the best.
"I'd suggest painting all the observatories a color to match the cinder."
This is not a new idea, but it would create serious problems for the science the observatories do as well as increasing costs, er, astronomically. The reasons the observatories are white or silver is to reflect the sun's heat. If the domes were dark they would heat up significantly more than they do during the day. At night when they open, all that heat is released immediately above them which causes turbulence and you end up with extremely blurry images.
You could control the temperature inside the dome with A/C, and some observatories do, but that is an extremely expensive proposition and is not particularly green. Even that, though, doesn't entirely fix the problem as the outside of the dome would still be hot and still create problems with turbulence.
It's a nice idea, but would essentially end up making Mauna Kea a poor observing site whereas right now, it's one of the best if not the best.