Jeff's U.S. Astro. Tour Blog

Lowell Observatory

2008-01-24T11:30:00.000-08:00

The last observatory on my tour is Lowell. I saw several of their telescopes and their instruments including a great spectrograph.

The telescope that discovered Pluto ...

and it's cool wooden and stone dome.

Now off to Phoenix and the trip home.

Cheers,
Jeff

Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer

2008-01-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Today I had another relaxing start to the day. A nice coffee and lunch. I then
visited the most complicated observatory I have ever seen.

Even though I understand the basics of this instrument it gave me a bigger headache the more I learned about it because it is sooooo complicated.

Amazing! This is so complicated there is a full time mathematician working on the calculations involved ... ooh here comes that headache again.

Tomorrow ... Lowell Observatory, the home of the dwarf planet Pluto discovery telescope.

Cheers,
Jeff

The Grand Canyon

2008-01-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

Today I had a more relaxed day and started with my first greasy diner breakfast. It was an experience that I won't repeat :P

I headed out to the grand canyon and spent a few hours taking it in. It is hard to understand how big it really is. It wasn't until I saw people on mules way down in the canyon that looked like fleas that I could see how deep it was.

Tomorrow, on to the last observatories.

Cheers,
Jeff

Arizona Snowbowl and Lowell Observatory

2008-01-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Today I started the day skiing at Arizona Snowbowl. The snow was not great and my legs got sore quickly in the icy conditions.

Then I went to a Mars night at Lowell Observatory,

and saw Mars through the telescope Lowell used to study Mars.

I was happy as a pig in mud mixing with the staff at Lowell :)

Tomorrow, The Grand Canyon.

Meteor Crater and the Petrified Forest

2008-01-19T20:31:00.000-08:00

Meteor Crater is the huge hole behind me :P It was so cold today that when I washed my hands
in the carpark the water froze on the ground.

The petrified forest was an entire forest turned to stone.

I had the feeling I was being watched!

Coloured mountains ...

Ancient Petroglyphs ...

An upgrade on my Mazda 6 on route 66?

Tomorrow, can you guess? ... More skiing :)

Whipple Observatory and on to Flagstaff

2008-01-18T23:06:00.000-08:00

As the moon watches me run around like a mad man across America I headed to observatory number 11, Whipple Observatory.

I got a look around the gamma ray telescopes and walked away with another arm full of goodies :)

Then I hit the road for about 6 hours and drove trough Phoenix to snow covered Flagstaff. Hmm I think this calls for another day of skiing :)

Cheers,
Jeff

Kitt Peak Observatory

2008-01-17T23:17:00.000-08:00

I spent a day driving into Arizona and relaxing into Tucson. Over the last two days I have been visiting Kitt Peak Observatory.

I spent most of the day touring the world's largest solar telescope and filming the adaptive optics system.

The next day I visited the University of Arizona and the Astronomy educators there. Then I went back to Kitt Peak for the night tour (watching the sunset).

The telescopes came to life around us.

We enjoyed some great views.

Off to Whipple observatory tomorrow and then on to Flagstaff.

Apache Point and National Solar Observatories

2008-01-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Apache Point Observatory and spent most of the day filming and interviewing the astronomers. Below an operator places optic fibers in place for spectroscopy tonight.

Just one of the many telescopes.

Then I spent the rest of the day back at the national solar observatory. I'm becoming a regular at lunch in their cafeteria.

Now off to Las Cruces for the night and then on to Arizona and observatory number 10.

Cheers :P

Ski Apache

2008-01-14T18:34:00.000-08:00

Had a wonderful day skiing at Ski Apache. The snow wasn't the best as they have not had a fall of snow for a while but it was like the snow i've seen in Australia in a bad season. It was still fun and my skiing is getting much better although my legs couldn't keep up with me for the whole day. I need to do more exercise!

Back to Alamagordo

2008-01-12T22:01:00.000-08:00

Today I headed back to Alamagordo and saw a lava flow in the Valley of Fires.

Saw the rockets at White Sands Missile Range and visited the Space Museum in Alamagordo for a history of space and rocketry lesson.

Tomorrow I'm off for a day of skiing at Ski Apache.

Back soon :)

Magdalena Ridge Observatory and the VLA

2008-01-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

My wonderful host Lisa from NRAO organised us a great day touring observatories. First we stopped on the highest mountain I have ever been on (over 10000 feet) to visit the Magdalena Ridge Observatory.

The telescope has one of the mirrors originally made for the Hubble Space Telescope and moves fast enough to track missiles launched at the nearby White Sands Missile range by the military.

We then headed to the Very Large Array (VLA) and first saw the dishes for the ALMA array in Chile.

The view from the control room was amazing with all the dishes observing one object.

Here is one of the 27 dishes.

Then we got t climb through a dish and dissect it.

Followed by a great steak (yum). Thanks Lisa.

National Solar Observatory

2008-01-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Next I drove to El Paso, stayed the night and drove on into New Mexico. Then I visited the national solar observatory at where else but Sunspot New Mexico.

There is more of this telescope below the ground than above.

I checked out their instruments like this adaptive optics system.

There were more things on this mountain looking at the Sun than I could have imagined.

Austin, Fort Davis and McDonald Observatory, Texas

2008-01-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

Over the last few days:

I spent two days in Austin at the start of the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society. I attended some educator sessions, met many people I had emailed in the past so I put faces to names. I also got lots of free books, DVD's, etc which I can't get in Australia.

I drove to fort Davis today in a Mazda 6 I have hired, I went to the evening star viewing at the McDonald visitors center and camped that night in Fort Davis.

I toured the telescopes the next day up on the mountain including the old ...

... one of the largest in the world and,

the people behind the scenes.

Cheers,
Jeff

Palomar Observatory

2008-01-04T22:12:00.000-08:00

Today visited Palomar mountain.

I filmed with the Schmidt telescope and posed as Edwin Hubble did long ago.

I then checked out the size of the mirror for the 5.1m Hale telescope.

and checked out the telescope with Scott.

Well now I've seen the telescopes that have discovered the size of the universe, the expansion of the universe, dwarf planets, extra-solar planets, quasars, magnetic fields in sunspots and many more. It's basically most of the history of modern astronomy. Just right for a geek like me :P

Cheers,
Jeff

Parks, Skiing, Camping and Mt. Wilson

2008-01-03T01:19:00.001-08:00

Over the last few days I have had a great time. Time to have a bit of a break from visiting observatories and have a bit of a holiday.

On the way out to Sequoia NP I spotted this cute fireplace.

I had to buy chains for the frosty roads.

I had a sunny day unlike the rest of California under the clouds below.

The largest tree in the world.

My camp site at Yosemite.

I had a day of skiing at Badgers Pass.

The great view of Yosemite as I left.

Now back to LA for the next day at Mt. Wilson.

The highlights were the Hooker 100" that changed the world forever. Hubble used it to discover other galaxies and that the universe is expanding.

The 150 foot solar telescope that did most of the early work on the properties of the Sun.

I did some filming at this observatory and I'll have the clips on my site later.

Until next time, Cheers :)

Griffith Observatory

2007-12-28T23:12:00.000-08:00

Today,

I headed to Griffith Observatory in LA.

From 12 lane freeways to Hollywood Bvd. I'd be lost without the GPS navigation.

The exhibits and planetarium were breathtaking and I met many of the staff.

In the evening I got a behind the scenes tour of the telescopes.

The Big Sur Coast

2007-12-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

Today,

I spent a whole day cruising the Big Sur coast and stopping at vantage points and parks along the way. The driving looked like this:

Along steep coastline.

My favourite part was the state park where a waterfall falls onto the beach (see next image too):

The forest behind this waterfall was wonderful too:

I was going to camp this night but the camp ground didn't live up t my expectations and it was early so I drove on towards LA.

Lick Observatory

2007-12-26T22:42:00.000-08:00

After my hire car broke down and I got a new one I went shopping for camping gear at REI. Then I finally got to my first observatory. Lick observatory has the second largest refracting telescope in the world.

I had some great tours and an in-depth talk to one of the astronomers about adaptive optics. The road to the observatory was the skinniest and most windy road I have ever seen. Once at the top it is really cold and you are above many of the clouds.

Off to the coast tomorrow and I'll be back to blog in a few days.

Cheers,
Jeff

A day in San Francisco

2007-12-26T00:15:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I had a wonderful day today. I picked up my car and gt upgraded to a convertable (picks later) and thankfully was able to get a GPS to make things easy.

I went on the cable car

to fisherman's wharf for some clam chowder (yum).

I walked through some of the cool streets including the steepest (Lombard)

Got some good coffee and walked up to Coit tower where I could see Alkatraz

Until tomorrow, C Ya :)

San Francisco here I am

2007-12-24T19:14:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I'm settled in now after a long uncomfortable flight. Had to buy a phone and my new number is 415-518-9413. Had a bit of a look around the city but I'm really jet lagged so I'm up for an early night. I got a lot of strange looks today because I was the only person in San Francisco with shorts on :) It wasn't that cold but it was denim as far as the eye could see and my room was not ready so I was shopping. I have a room with a view so you can see the sunset from here. Well that's all for today, c ya.

Itinerary

2007-12-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a rough itinerary for my trip. I'll update it as things unfold.

Dec 24th - Depart Sydney at 4.15pm United 870.

Dec 24th - Arrive in San Francisco

Dec 26th - Leave San Francisco and drive towards LA along the coast where possible.

Dec 27th to Jan 4th - Visit Griffith, Lick, Mt. Wilson and Palomar Observatories where possible and national parks along the way depending on which observatories I can get to in the time.

Jan 5th - Fly to Austin Texas.

Jan 6th to 7th - Attend sessions at the American Astronomical Society Conference.

Jan 8th - Start driving west.

Jan 9th - Visit McDonald Observatory.

Jan 11th - Visit the Very Large Array (VLA) in New Mexico.

Jan 12th to 22nd - Visit Kitt Peak, Apache Pt., National Solar and Lowell Observatory if possible. Also visit Meteor Crater, Arizona and National Parks along the way.

Jan 23rd - Fly to San francisco.

Jan 24th - Fly back to Australia.

Jan 26th - Arrive in Sydney at 7.50am United 863.

Recover and prepare for another year :)

I hope I'm ready?

2007-12-22T18:06:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

I'm setting up this blog so people can know where I'm up to in my trip. Wishing you all a merry christmas and a happy new year.

Every corner I turn I find something I should take, argh, my bags are getting very full. Well I am going for nearly 5 weeks I suppose.

I'll put an itinerary below this soon so you can see where i am and if I'm sticking to the schedule. For those of you who would be interested in some background on why I would be doing such a nerdy trip it will become clear when you look at my website www.jeffstanger.net

Cheers,
Jeff