We stopped in Alamogordo, New Mexico for a few days to visit friends and enjoy warm weather. We drove up in the Sacromento mountains to Sacromento peak to Sunspot. There we toured the Evans Solar Facility where there is a giant solar telescope. This is the triangular shaped building -- in it is the telescope and half of it is above ground but the main portion is below ground. We got to go inside and watch them work -- mainly looking at data on a bunch of computer monitors. There was a nice visitor center with lots of interactive displays.
There is also another night sky observatory called Apache observatory in the same area-- the largest telescope there is housed in the squared topped building in the picture. The view from the property these different telescopes sit on is spectacular. You look down over the whole Tularosa basin and you can see the White Sands below. The drive up to the observatories was beautiful and we even saw some snow in the shady places because we were at an altitude of over 9000 feet. We got to see a herd of mule deer along the way as well as an interesting old log trestle bridge built high over a gorge.
More to come next blog on sightseeing around Alamogordo.
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