The Roden Crater Telescope

Portal to a magical overnight at Roden Crater with friends, and the artist James Turrell.

50 years in the making, it’s an art work tunneled through an extinct volcano, aligned with celestial events.

I noticed the crescent moon perfectly centered down the 1000′-long keyhole tunnel. I was excited to share with the group that almost missed it.

The tunnel is purposely built to align with events like this, and it took a year to dig with a tunnel-boring-machine. Craziest of all – it has a 10-ft. diameter lens that can roll out midway down the tunnel, forming the largest refracting telescope on Earth.