Hello all,

I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news once again, but we've
some trouble with the Painter Hall telescope and we'll have to cancel
this weekend's public viewing.

For those of you who have visited or read about the telescope, you
know that it uses an old antique manual clock drive system. We did
figure out what the problem was (which took a couple of days right
there), but we didn't have the right tools to fix it. So, we called
in a clock repair person who has worked on antique clocks, but they
can't come until Monday. We're very hopeful that he will be able to
fix the issue and we'll be back up and running next weekend (the 11th
and 12th).

And for an update on the RLM viewing situation....
We're almost there! They have replaced the metal "skin" of the
telescope dome and control room and have done some of the work on
the wall around the roof. But, the surface itself isn't finished and
they haven't replaced the fence that keeps people out of the area
with the antennas. If they hold to the schedule we were given a
couple of weeks ago, they should be done next week. We'll see!

Cheers,
Lara Eakins
UT Astronomy Dept.