Pic du Midi Observatory

 

The Pic du Midi observatory founded its first stones by the end of 19th century It is located at the Pic du Midi de Bigorre at High Pyrenees region, near Tarbes, France.

The observatory is at  2872m altitude.

The access is done by the telepheric taken at  "La Mongie".

The observatory is divided in three main zones, one dedicated to the public, one dedicated to science and the third is the television transmitter. The public zone has a permanent exposition on astronomy and include some domes, namely the historic Baillaud dome. In the scheme bellow public zones are shown in white and the science zones are in blue:

The access to the domes is done through inner corridors.

One part of the science zone is assigned to advanced amateur astronomer associations, namely the T60 association that manages the 600mm telescope:

Adjacent to the T60 dome the control room can be found:

The dome Gentili protect the T100:

The telescope Bernard Lyot has a mirror of 2m:

Instead of a slit, the dome of this telescope has a circular aperture and an unusual movement:

Some views from the  Bernard Lyot telescope's balcony:

The photo at bellow-right show a ramp that reaches a mountain road that may be used by some all-terrain vehicles. It is used to transport some heavy stuff into the observatory.

At last we visited the Tourelle, a solar observatory:

Acknowledgements:

Marco "L'Observatoire", our kind host in this visit..

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