Posted on 02/08/2019 5:38:50 PM PST by LibWhacker
Two astronomical observatories in Mexico have scaled back access and operations because of security threats, Mexico’s National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) in San Andrés Cholula announced on 5 February. The Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) and the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC) are both located on the Sierra Negra volcano in the Mexican state of Puebla. The highway leading to the mountain has become a target for carjackings and robberies in recent weeks, as a fight intensifies between the Mexican government and fuel thieves. Scientists and technical staff have stopped visits to the HAWC, canceling a planned repair trip, while the LMT has reduced its scientific operations to “the bare minimum level,” says INAOE astrophysicist and LMT Director David Hughes. “I cannot responsibly continue the scientific operation of the telescope until these issues are addressed.”
The LMT is a single-dish telescope that works at millimeter wavelengths. The joint U.S.-Mexico project is part of the worldwide Event Horizon Telescope that is trying to image a black hole. Normally, the LMT would host scientists for observations at night and maintenance and engineering crews during the day. It was poised to start observations with a new 50-meter dish, up from 32 meters, before what Hughes calls “a severe security incident” caused him to dramatically reduce operations. He declined to describe the incident or say exactly what is being done to protect employees and collaborators.
The HAWC has been less affected. The observatory, also a joint U.S.-Mexico project, looks for gamma rays and cosmic rays that bombard Earth by recording the blue glow of Cherenkov radiation produced when these high-energy particles pass through large tanks of purified water. Unlike the LMT, it is operated remotely, which means it can “continue with normal operations, taking data day and night,” says Andrés Sandoval Espinosa, an astrophysicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City and a HAWC spokesperson. So far, its researchers and personnel have not been threatened or harmed. But a planned visit for equipment repairs has been canceled, says Petra Hüntemeyer, an astrophysicist at Michigan Technological University in Houghton and a HAWC spokesperson. “We decided to be on the safe side.”
This is the first time that security threats have had such a dramatic effect on both observatories. The Sierra Negra region has become a center of a government crackdown on organized crime groups that steal oil and gasoline from pipelines to sell on the black market. Much of the fuel destined for Mexico City passes through pipelines in the region around Sierra Negra. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has temporarily shut down some pipelines and sent soldiers to guard others. Criminal groups have intensified their efforts and violence in response.
Might as well blow up the optical telescope and hand out the shards of glass to peasants. They could use the prettiest ones on which to serve tamales to their friends. Hundred-thousand-dollar serving platters thanks to the gringos. Gracias!
Tell me again: Why are we allies or friends with this nation?
Don’t get too upset. You need to put these telescopes at high altitude and in places that have clear dark skies. That rules out most of the US these days. One of the best places, the McDonald Observatory in Ft. Davis Texas is seeing slow but steady encroachment and increasing levels of light pollution.
Why are we allies or friends with this nation?
= = =
Trying to keep the last half-dozen from invading.
Mexican Science is settled, time to move on.
Likely due to increased oil and gas drilling, production and transportation activity just to the north in the southern Permian basin.
Mexico seems to be falling apart...
Who needs concertina wire, right?
Not much for a taco dish.
One is a radio telescope, the other is an array tanks with filled with water and sensors.
You need to put these telescopes at high altitude and in places that have clear dark skies.
?????
One is a radio telescope, the other is an array tanks filled with water and sensors.
You are right. I engaged in the fine freeper tradition of posting without thinking. Actually, looking at this it looks like a government funded boondoggle for lots of trips and parties for scientists, university deans and their funding officers, and you can’t seriously think you want to take away their fun, do you?
Q: I heard a rumor that some of the panels were stolen off the telescope. Is that true?
D.H.: No. There were some fantastic images that were distributed in the Mexican press that showed the telescope without any panels, and this was simply a photo that was taken before any panels were installed. But the idea was somehow panels had been stolen from the telescope. So that’s not true. There were panels that were removed from the institute, but that was a separate issue and those have been returned.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/05/mexicos-large-millimeter-telescope-opens-business?r3f_986=https://www.google.com/
That was the case on the walls surrounding Boy’s Town in Nueva Laredo back in the day ... so they tell me. LOL
Surprising. Still at the national level, one has an obligation to one's partners to guarantee security can be maintained, else you should never be entering into an agreement in the first place, imo... So sick of Uncle Sugar being treated like a sucker.
one has an obligation to one’s partners to guarantee security can be maintained...
The site is at 15,200 ASL, They use an oxygen enrichment system for the workers, otherwise, body parts start turning blue.
Probably safe at the site.
The access road? A choke point for the usual Mexican bandits.
Since the local pipeline tapping business has been slow, local brigands have been branching out to other lines of ‘work’.
*ping*
Objects in your objective lens are closer than they appear.
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