Fire cancels observing with 60-inch at Mt. Wilson; LIGO Livingston Observatory Tour; Some more images and discussion of binary neutron star merger, GW170817, and the Multi-messenger era of astronomy

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well we have had a wonderful time at the Gravity Wave and Astrophysics symposium in Baton Rouge and included tour of LIGO Livingston Observatory.  We flew back to OC with the expectation that the fires on Mt. Wilson would not interfere with our planned observing night at the 60-inch telescope, but again, the third time now, we have been canceled out because of the ongoing fire.  Darn!  OCA Tour Coordinator, Michelle, has done a valiant job in trying to keep our observing group together of these cancelled opportunities, and here we are again, cancelled.  Thanks for that, Michelle!  Luckily we can report on the successful LLO  tour and some of the symposium discussion of GW170817 and the beginning of  the new multi-messenger era in astronomy.

First day of gravity astrophysics symposium; Hooray, LIGO Collaboration reports the first detection (GW170817) of the merger of a binary neutron star system and the first detection of electromagnetic counterparts

Greetings from Palmia Observatory (Offsite in Baton Rouge, LA)


Well, here I am at the Gravitational Wave Astrophysics: Early Results from GW Searches and Electromagnetic Counterparts Symposium sponsored by IAU, hosted by LSU in Baton Rouge, LA.  This location is conveniently about 80 miles from New Orleans and especially significant for this meeting is the LIGO (observatory) in Livingston, LA being only about 25 miles away.  A key part of this symposium is the included tour of LIGO and finally the long anticipated announcement of the detection of the merger of a binary neutron star system.

Flying to IAU Symposium 338, Gravitational Wave Astrophysics and LIGO tour; UCI Physical Sciences Breakfast & Lecture; JPL tour; Tying gravity and quantum mechanics together?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory (offsite traveling to Baton Rouge, LA)

We I am traveling today to Baton Rouge, LA, for the upcoming IAU Symposium 338 on Gravitational Waves in Astronomy.  Tomorrow I hope to report on the big press release that everyone is expecting concerning the latest LIGO findings, but for now let's review some of this weeks activities.

Nobel for gravity wave researchers; Rotating globe uses Earth's magnetic field; Trying to do light curve analysis for variable stars; Nyquist again?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well the last couple of nights have been cloudy so not much observing was planned, but while out walking with Astronomer Assistants Ruby and Danny, the early morning skies seemed quite clear.  Maybe we should shift our observing schedule to begin at say 3:00 AM?  Ok, ok, maybe not, let's not even go there, so in the meantime we should check the science news and look at the upcoming calendar of events.

Found aurora in Sharon everyday; Ivanpah's power towers glow in airplane window; Updated northern lights photos from Greenland; More cosmic ray discussion; Physics from Planet Earth textbook

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, we are on our way back to the observatory and look forward to catching up on the current schedule of physics colloquia and OCA events.  We didn't quite get to see the glorious auroras that we were able to see in Edmonton, Canada, now almost 20 years ago, where the aurora appeared as curtains of light that shimmered and moved about as if they were actually going to come down and touch us.  Oh, well we hope to see that on our future Northern Lights cruise up the coast of Norway in 2019.  But while we were on the ship we were always glad to look for the aurora in Sharon.