Another Pic du Midi is the Pic du Midi d'Ossau.

Pic du Midi de Bigorre
The Pic du Midi de Bigorre and its observatory
Elevation	2,877 metres (9,439 ft)
Location	France
Range	Pyrenees
Coordinates	42°56′11″N 00°08′34″E / 42.93639°N 0.14278°E / 42.93639; 0.14278

The Pic du Midi de Bigorre or simply Pic du Midi (altitude 2,877 m (9,439 ft)) is a mountain in the French Pyrenees famous for its astronomical observatory, the Observatoire du Pic du Midi de Bigorre (Pic du Midi Observatory), part of the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (Midi-Pyrénées Observatory).

The observatory

The aerial tramway to The observatory

Construction of the observatory began in 1878, and the 8 meter dome was completed in 1908. It housed a mechanical equatorial reflector. In 1946 Mr. Gentilli funded a dome and 60 cm, and in 1958 a spectrograph was installed. A 106-centimetre (42-inch) telescope was installed in 1963 funded by NASA, and was used to take detailed photographs of the surface of the Moon in preparation for the Apollo missions. A new 2 meter telescope, known as the Bernard Lyot Telescope was placed at the observatory in 1980 on top of 28 meter column built off to the side to avoid wind turbulence affecting the seeing of the other telescopes. It is the largest telescope in France. The observatory also has a coronograph, which is used to study the solar corona. A 60-centimetre telescope (the Gentilly's T60 telescope) is also implemented at the top of the Pic du Midi. Since 1982 this T60 is dedicated to amateur astronomy and managed by a group of amateurs, called association T60.

There are currently at the top:

• The 55 cm telescope (Robley Dome);
• The 60 cm telescope (T60 Dome, welcoming amateur astronomers via the Association T60);
• The 106 cm telescope (Gentilli Dome) dedicated to observations of the solar system;
• The 2 meter telescope or Bernard Lyot Telescope (used with a new generation stellar spectropolarimeter);
• The coronograph HACO-CLIMSO (studies of the solar corona);
• The bezel Jean Rösch (studies of the solar surface)

Also:

• The Charvin dome, which sheltered a photoelectric coronometer (which studied the Sun);
• The Baillaud dome, reassigned to the museum in 2000 and which houses a 1:1 scale model coronograph.

The observatory is located at 42°56′N 0°8′E / 42.933°N 0.133°E / 42.933; 0.133, placing it very close to the Greenwich meridian. The observatory was featured in the video game Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 under a different name. The observatory in-game is said to be located on the fictional Pic des Pyrenees.

Panoramic view toward south from the observatory

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pic du Midi de Bigorre

• Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées
• Profile of climb from Col du Tourmalet on www.climbbybike.com
• A night on the "Vaisseaux d'Etoiles" (Starship) du Pic du Midi