The Observatory complex is located 450 miles west of Austin in the Davis Mountains of west Texas, one of the darkest sky areas in the continental United States. The HET is an innovative departure from classical telescope design and will be dedicated primarily to the spectroscopic analysis of light. In addition to its own facilities, McDonald Observatory has a share in a submillimeter wave telescope on Mauna Kea . Our astronomers and students also make frequent use of national and international facilities, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Kuiper Airborne Observatory . The Whole Earth Telescope project, led by Texas astronomers, involves simultaneous observations on telescopes worldwide.
Students doing dissertation research receive high priority on all telescopes.
The University of Texas at Austin is a leading institution of higher education and research, the third largest state-supported university, and the oldest and largest of the University of Texas System. It is second only to Harvard in the number of endowed faculty positions, with many of its faculty being members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Pulitzer or Nobel Prize winners. The University offers many fine facilities and resources to graduate astronomy students. With more than six million volumes, the University of Texas at Austin has the sixth largest academic library system in the United States, and is ranked third nationally among state-supported schools. Machine and electronic shops, as well as more specialized equipment at other University facilities, are also available.