Photography : Astronomy : Peeking over Blanco's Shoulder
While we waited for the clouds to clear (which they did an hour later), the operators of the Blanco 4m telescope were kind enough to let us look inside the dome. Large telescopes have large slits in the dome, so I got a good chunk of sunset light! Why do domes have slits? The only light astronomers want going into the telescope is that from the patch of sky they're studying. The dome blocks out other light (like the Moon) and keeps the wind down, too, since that can make a telescope shake and blur the images.
