yes, it actually can get this bad.
UPDATE: and as sarah rightly points out in the comments, i/we receive such questions from both men and women.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
are you kidding me?
yes, it actually can get this bad.
UPDATE: and as sarah rightly points out in the comments, i/we receive such questions from both men and women.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
intense observing
as you can see, i havent been able to post nearly as much as i was hoping during this observing run at the AAO. it turns out this telescope and observing project require a lot more attention than i had predicted. it takes three people to keep operations going: a "night assistant" to control the telescope (make sure it continues pointing in the right direction, monitor the weather), a "support astronomer" to operate the instrument (keep everything in focus, configure the 400 optical fiber positions before each observation, actually open the camera's shutter), and the "observer" to decide what targets to look at and make sure the data is top quality throughout the night.
i'm feeling fairly exhausted from the whole ordeal even though these are short summer nights! during this run i'm training to do both the support tasks and those of the observer and at the end of this month i will spend a few nights as the head support astronomer!
for now, here are some photos.
these mountains are littered with telescopes and i just found out there are plans to build about 14 more small-ish ones over the next several years!
butterflies love bottle brush.
the view from the catwalk of the AAT.
the AAT.
the control room setup is not quite as impressive as at UKIRT on mauna kea, but it certainly accomplishes the goals.
the night assistant in his rest state.
no matter how much i want to complain about brutal observing and not having as much time as i was hoping to work on science during the nights, i cannot complain at all about having time after i eat dinner to go out and watch kangaroos eat grass and bounce around. they are so freaking adorable... and when they hop away, i cant help but smile.
i'm feeling fairly exhausted from the whole ordeal even though these are short summer nights! during this run i'm training to do both the support tasks and those of the observer and at the end of this month i will spend a few nights as the head support astronomer!
for now, here are some photos.
these mountains are littered with telescopes and i just found out there are plans to build about 14 more small-ish ones over the next several years!
butterflies love bottle brush.
the view from the catwalk of the AAT.
the AAT.
the control room setup is not quite as impressive as at UKIRT on mauna kea, but it certainly accomplishes the goals.
the night assistant in his rest state.
no matter how much i want to complain about brutal observing and not having as much time as i was hoping to work on science during the nights, i cannot complain at all about having time after i eat dinner to go out and watch kangaroos eat grass and bounce around. they are so freaking adorable... and when they hop away, i cant help but smile.
Friday, February 4, 2011
telescope domes and kangaroos!
its one of those fantastic new moon, pitch black nights where you cant see your hand in front of your face. unfortunately, the sky is also covered in clouds so i cant see any stars :( but i managed to see some kangaroos and take some photos before the sun went down!
the anglo-australian telescope:
the Faulkes Telescope South:
the anglo-australian telescope:
the Faulkes Telescope South:
Thursday, February 3, 2011
the australian astronomical observatory
i've been working for the anglo australian observatory out of the sydney offices since november 2010 and today i finally get to drive out to the observatory and meet some new big telescopes! for the next four nights and several more later this month, i will be learning to use the anglo-australian telescope (AAT).
in this photo from 1979 you can see the AAT and star trails around the southern celestial pole. you can also see squiggly lines on the catwalk around the telescope created by the flashlight of an astronomer checking the weather during this long exposure...
with a 4 meter diameter primary mirror, the AAT is no longer one of the largest telescopes on the surface of the earth, but it has remained an astronomical work horse since the mid 1970s, when it was built as the first major telescope in the southern hemisphere.
for a nice little video summary of some of the most influential science discoveries produced by the AAT, CLICK HERE!! the project they mention near the end of the video, called GAMA, is the one i'm working on. hopefully, i'll get to write more this week about what i'm doing at the telescope and the research i'm doing in australia and with GAMA.
for now... its time to drive over 7 hours to the northwest to reach the observatory. we're currently sitting under heavy clouds, but even after driving 400 km north, we'll be decently far away from last night's intense cyclone yasi. as you can see on this map, yasi hit in northern queensland, while the observatory sits solidly in new south wales. sending out good thoughts to those suffering from yasi and other flooding around queensland!
in this photo from 1979 you can see the AAT and star trails around the southern celestial pole. you can also see squiggly lines on the catwalk around the telescope created by the flashlight of an astronomer checking the weather during this long exposure...
with a 4 meter diameter primary mirror, the AAT is no longer one of the largest telescopes on the surface of the earth, but it has remained an astronomical work horse since the mid 1970s, when it was built as the first major telescope in the southern hemisphere.
for a nice little video summary of some of the most influential science discoveries produced by the AAT, CLICK HERE!! the project they mention near the end of the video, called GAMA, is the one i'm working on. hopefully, i'll get to write more this week about what i'm doing at the telescope and the research i'm doing in australia and with GAMA.
for now... its time to drive over 7 hours to the northwest to reach the observatory. we're currently sitting under heavy clouds, but even after driving 400 km north, we'll be decently far away from last night's intense cyclone yasi. as you can see on this map, yasi hit in northern queensland, while the observatory sits solidly in new south wales. sending out good thoughts to those suffering from yasi and other flooding around queensland!
great britain? united kingdom? england?
c. g. p. grey attempts to control the world's confusion over the difference between the united kingdom, great britain, and england in this fairly successful video. he speaks quite quickly, but you can get the transcript here.
this video certainly clears up many mysteries, but opens up many more. why do so many countries on the opposite side of the world from "the empire" still recognize the monarchy as their head of state? this video also doesnt show you the different flags of england, scotland, ireland, etc... so you might still be confused during world cups or olympic games.
this video certainly clears up many mysteries, but opens up many more. why do so many countries on the opposite side of the world from "the empire" still recognize the monarchy as their head of state? this video also doesnt show you the different flags of england, scotland, ireland, etc... so you might still be confused during world cups or olympic games.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
powers of ten
until now, there was no legal online access to the fabulous "powers of ten" short video by the architects ray & charles eames. yes, it looks dated, since it was produced in the 1960s, but i have such a vivid memory of seeing this for the first time at a young age (on an IMAX screen), that i wanted to share it here.
the video starts by showing a couple picnicking in chicago then zooms out into the universe by powers of ten (its still tough to grasp just how huge the universe even after studying it at such scales for so many years). then the video zooms back to the couple and further inside themselves to their atoms and blood cells and below. enjoy!
UPDATE: thanks to jad for leaving a comment... i was looking for the link to the site he mentions but couldnt find it at the time of writing this original post!
"I love that movie. This is a pretty cool flash(?) app that lets you zip through the powers of ten. Not zooming in and out on a single point like the movie, but with more time to look around: http://primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/"
the video starts by showing a couple picnicking in chicago then zooms out into the universe by powers of ten (its still tough to grasp just how huge the universe even after studying it at such scales for so many years). then the video zooms back to the couple and further inside themselves to their atoms and blood cells and below. enjoy!
UPDATE: thanks to jad for leaving a comment... i was looking for the link to the site he mentions but couldnt find it at the time of writing this original post!
"I love that movie. This is a pretty cool flash(?) app that lets you zip through the powers of ten. Not zooming in and out on a single point like the movie, but with more time to look around: http://primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/"
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
holy cactus!
Léon Diguet took this photo as part of his research in 1895 in the baja california peninsula. the cardón cactus is the world's largest type of cactus and can live for several hundred years. incredible...!
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