"02 - Birth of an Age" - читать интересную книгу автора (BeauSeigneur James)

"Yes," Dr. Taylor responded, as the other scientist picked up a phone and began to dial.

"We were just noticing the picture of 2021 KD," she began, referring to the first asteroid. "The picture seems to be drifting slowly to the right on the screen."

"We noticed that, too," Taylor answered. "Dr. Lane is calling Dominion Astrophysical Observatoiy to find out what's going on," he added, nodding toward the woman on the phone. Mary and Dr. Taylor stood quietly for a moment, listening to their end of the conversation, trying to make out what was being said, but the call was far too brief to make any sense of it.

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"Yeah. Okay. Good luck," they heard Dr. Lane say, and then the call was over.

"They're aware of the problem," Dr. Lane told Dr. Taylor as soon as she hung up the phone. "They think it's a cumulative error caused by their segmented positioning system. They're attempting to correct it now."

Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on a wooded hill just north of Victoria on the southern end of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, was best known for its study of variable stars, Beta Cephei stars, the orbits of double stars, and the examination of the frequency distribution of chemical elements. Asteroids were hardly its mainstay, but like many other observatories, Dominion had postponed its regular work to participate in this once-in-a-million-year opportunity. Dominion had been chosen as the primary observatory for this portion of the coverage because of its northern location and because of its recently commissioned 25-foot segmented mirror telescope (SMT). With one and a half times the equivalent diameter, and two and a quarter times the light-gathering power of the once-famous 200-inch telescope at Mount Palomar, the Dominion SMT used a mosaic of hexagonal mirror segments that functioned optically in close approximation to a monolithic mirror. For coherency each segment had to be continuously positioned with respect to the other mirror segments that made up the mosaic. This was accomplished by means of position sensors and actuators built into the mirrors' supports which maintained a common focus with all the other segments. It was these sensors and actuators that appeared to be the cause of the problem.

"If they can't get it fixed," Dr. Lane said, "they'll switch to the feed from the backup observatory. I believe ..." Lane looked at a schedule she had on a clipboard, "yes, that would be Kit! Peak."

July 3, 2021 - Kitt Peak Observatory, Papago Indian Reservation, Arizona (12:21 a.m. local time, 7:21 a.m. GMT)

High above the Papago Indian reservation, nestled among the granite crags and cliffs of Kitt Peak, the white dome of Steward Observatory stood like a giant while mushroom. Home to the largest concentration of operating telescopes in the northern

58 Birth of an Age

hemisphere and credited with numerous astronomical firsts, Kitt Peak served on this occasion as the backup to Canada's Dominion Astrophysical Observatory. It was not a role the scientists of Kitt Peak expected to be called upon to fulfill, but it should have been a simple matter of turning on their broadcast equipment and synchronizing the hand-off from Dominion. At the moment the call came, however, Dr. Chapman of Kitt Peak was busy with a problem of his own. He and his colleagues had not even noticed the problem with the broadcast picture from Dominion.

"Dr. Chapman, this is Dr. Watson at Dominion Observatory in Canada," the call began. "We have a problem here with our 7.7-meter telescope. So far we've been able to compensate, but I wanted to give you the 'heads up' just in case."

"Thanks," Chapman said, "but I'm afraid we have some problems of our own with our 11-meter SMT. For some reason Ч we can't seem to isolate the cause Ч but it appears we have a cumulative error in our segment positioning system, making it look as though asteroid 2021 KD has changed its course."

For a long moment there was silence.

"Hello?" Dr. Chapman said, as he began to wonder if they had been cut off.

"I'm here," responded Dr. Watson at Dominion. "How long ago did this start?"

"We first noticed it about ten minutes ago," Chapman answered.

Again there was silence. "Have you been monitoring our picture?" Watson asked after a moment.

"Well, not for the last few minutes. Like I said, we've been pretty busy with our own equipment. Why? What's the problem?"

"You'd better have a look."

Dr. Chapman leaned back in his chair and twisted his neck to look around a table at the large split screen monitor of the two asteroids. It took a moment for him to see the shift and when he did, he could not believe what he saw. Jumping up from his chair, he pulled the phone with him so that he could see the screen more clearly. The unobstructed view and new orientation changed nothing. It took only seconds for Dr. Chapman to realize what was happening. This wasn't coincidence. It couldn't be.

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On his end of the phone, Dr. Watson heard only the sound of men talking in the background. "Tom! Frank!" Chapman called to his associates. "Look at this!" he shouted, pointing toward the monitor.

Chapman's two associates looked at the monitor, then back at the image from their own telescope, and then back at Chapman, their eyes asking the same question: Was the image on the monitor coming from their telescope? Chapman shook his head in answer. The taller of the two men looked at a small monitor which indicated the picture's source; the other stared back at the picture on the large monitor. For a long moment there was silence.