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Astronomy Weather
Tue May 24, 2005
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Astronomy and weather don't usually go hand in hand, but one can certainly affect the other. Correspondent Curt Nickisch reports from an observatory in the South Dakota Badlands.
Ron Dyvig built this observatory on his own in Quinn, a remote ranching town of forty-four residents. He used plywood and two-by-fours to construct the geometric dome that houses the telescope. Inside, Dyvig turns a hand-crank to open the dome to the night sky.
The freezing outside air pours in. But Dyvig can operate the telescope from a heated control room downstairs.
RD: That makes for much more pleasant nights. Traditional astronomers didn't have it so good. In South Dakota, of course, at our northerly latitude, we definitely have cold winters.
Still, South Dakota winters bring winter storms. And those storms bring clouds that obscure the telescope's view of the heavens. That's why the most prolific observatories around the world are often located on mountain peaks or high deserts where the sky is almost always clear, as well as dark. But Ron Dyvig is the only person to work at this observatory, and he says the occasional cloudy sky lets him get caught up on sleep.
RD: I have had sufficient cloudless skies in a row where I almost hope for a cloudy night. But that does not seem to be my problem at the moment. So, it can be very frustrating with clouds. But it goes with astronomy. It's part of the challenge, but you might say it's part of the charm.
Part of the charm of astronomy on the range, at least - where the skies are - generally - not cloudy all day.
At the Badlands Observatory in Quinn, South Dakota, I'm Curt Nickisch.
The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory, with funding from Subaru of America and The National Science Foundation.
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