Astronomy's Dark Year

You might think, as I did, that astronomical observatories, typically located on the top of remote mountains, would be isolated enough to be safe from the COVID-19 pandemic. But you'd be wrong, as shown by this article from Astronomy magazine. 

Large telescopes require large staffs, both to run and maintain the equipment and to analyze the data. They are usually part of universities and often aren't billeted at the observatory itself. The pandemic has forced most large telescopes to shut down or severely curtail activities. 

Through interviews and email exchanges with dozens of researchers, administrators, press officers and observatory directors, as well as reviewing a private list circulating among scientists, Astronomy magazine has confirmed more than 120 of Earth's largest telescopes are now closed as a result of COVID-19. 

Many of the shutdowns happened in late March, as astronomy-rich states like Arizona, Hawaii and California issued stay-at-home orders. Nine of the 10 largest optical telescopes in North America are now closed. In Chile, an epicenter of observing, the government placed the entire country under a strict lockdown, shuttering dozens of telescopes. Spain and Italy, two European nations with rich astronomical communities — and a large number of COVID-19 infections — closed their observatories weeks ago. 

 Even many small telescopes have now closed, as all-out shutdowns were ordered on mountaintops ranging from Hawaii's Mauna Kea to the Chilean Atacama to the Spanish Canary Islands. Science historians say nothing like this has happened in the modern era of astronomy. Even during the chaos of World War II, telescopes kept observing. 

Some smaller telescopes have been able to stay open. 

Similarly, the telescopes that make up the Catalina Sky Survey, based at Arizona’s Mount Lemmon, are still searching the heavens for asteroids. In just the past week, they found more than 50 near-Earth asteroids — none of them dangerous.

Another small group of robotic telescopes, the international Las Cumbres Observatory network, has likewise managed to stay open, albeit with fewer sites than before. In recent weeks, their telescopes have followed up on unexpected astronomical events ranging from asteroids to supernovas.  

"We are fortunate to still be keeping an eye on potential new discoveries," says Las Cumbres Observatory director Lisa Storrie-Lombardi.

But, overall, there are just fewer telescopes available to catch and confirm new objects that appear in our night sky, which means fewer discoveries will be made. 

Chambers, the Pan-STARRS telescope director, says his team has been forced to do their own follow-ups as they find new asteroids and supernovas. “This will mean we make fewer discoveries, and that we will miss some objects that we would have found in normal times,” he says.