McDonald Observatory Is Home of New High-Power Telescope

On Oct. 8, the University of Texas at Austin dedicated the Hobby-Eberly telescope at the McDonald Observatory.

The facility is atop Mount Fowlkes in the Davis Mountains at an altitude of 6800 ft.

The telescope -- hailed as one of the most powerful optical instruments in the world -- will enable scientists to search for planets in orbit around other stars, learn more about dark matter surrounding galaxies and formulate new theories on how stars are born and die. The telescope features 91 computer-aligned mirror segments that span 36 ft.