Otto Struve Telescope

The Davis Mountains is an excellent location for astronomical research because of the clear dry air and moderately high elevation. The remote nature of the facility proved to be a significant challenge in transporting such a large mirror. It was a very precarious journey for the Otto Struve Telescope's mirror to this remote part of Texas and up to the top of Mount Locke. The mirror was transported from the local town of Fort Davis up the mountain by Carleton D. Wilson, owner of a local trucking company, while locals cheered as they looked on.

The Otto Struve telescope is still in use today. It is updated with modern imaging detectors allowing astronomers to conduct many types of research.

Noted applications and Discoveries

The telescope was one of two used to set up and define the Johnson-Morgan UBV photometric system.

In 1949, G. Kuiper of Yerkes Observatory discovered a new moon of planet Neptune, named Nereid. The moon was discovered on photographic plates taken in a search for moons of Neptune.