[SEL] Slightly O.T.: Update on Mt. Wilson

[Larry Evans]

The wildfire that threatened Mt. Wilson Observatory started three weeks ago 
today.  It burned 160,557 acres and is currently 91% contained.  It 
probably will not be completely "out" until the first good rain.

Fortunately due to a very major effort by many fire crews the Observatory 
and the commercial TV and radio transmission towers on the mountain 
sustained no significant damage from the fire.  The roads to the area are 
closed to the general public but I visited the Observatory today to start 
some repair work on a plumbing problem and had a chance to look around a 
bit.  The Fairbanks Morse 50 hp RE and the building it is in is just fine 
but even more importantly the big telescopes appear to be in great 
shape.  There was some concern that falling ash would get on the aluminized 
surface of the mirrors and then high humidity could cause a reaction 
between the ash and the aluminum.  The staff was able to clean any ash off 
with a dry carbon dioxide "snow" before any damage was done.

Larry

Larry Evans
MailTo:LFEVANS at pacbell.net
http://www.oldengine.org/members/levans/