Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2018

27 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2018 OBSERVATORIES ployees at Sunspot were evacuated, as were employees of AURA, McAteer said. The U.S. Postal Service, which operates the Sunspot Post Office, evacuated its employ- ees as well. There were also about 12 to 15 residents who were evacuated, he said. “Last Thursday (Sept. 13), we got a phone call in the morning from AURA who told us to say that they were temporarily evacuat- ing the site and asked us to evacuate our people,” McAteer said. “So, I called our people up and asked them to leave in a very sensible and calm manner and locked everything up. We’ve been out of there since Thursday morning.” McAteer said in an email to the Associated Press that it will be up to the astronomy research associ- ation to decide when Sunspot re- opens. “We have paused obser- vations, and are taking this op- portunity to catch up with the back log of data from previous months,” he said. T he main scien- tific structures of Sacramento Peak: the John W. Evans Solar Facil- ity (below), the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope (top center), and the Patrol and Hilltop Domes (on the right). [National Solar Observatory] T he Sunspot and Astronomy Visi- tor’s Center is where visitors begin their tour of the facility. [Alamogordo Daily New]