Observing with Street Lights

Observing with Street Lights
Dark sky sites not always necessary to see the Milky Way (This image was taken ouside of a B&B in Julian, CA)

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Gamma ray spectrum and Crab Nebula; Finally got better focus on IR camera; More photos from our SOFIA tour

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


Well we have been so busy this week that we have missed some of the good solar system observing opportunities, like the large gas giants, and Mars, and a total lunar eclipse.  Hope the rest of you are doing a little better.  So to make up for that, let's stay inside and do more astrophysics!

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Pevatrons and other sources of cosmic rays; giga, tera, peta and beyond; Hot IR photos of observatory staff

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, we are finally back in the observatory after a week at COSPAR 2018.  Ok, ok, Pasadena is only about 60 miles away, but for me doing the traffic on the dreaded 210 freeway everyday is just not going to happen, so staying at a hotel in Pasadena is the only way to go.   So, lets now talk about more cosmic rays, including the Pevatron at the center of the Milky Way, and some IR photos from new IR camera.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Hooray, we finished with COSPAR (Day 7) and toured SOFIA in Palmdale; Neutron stars; Cosmic ray anisotropy?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


Ok, we finally made it through Day 7 at COSPAR and then what would have been day 8 of the conference, Science Nerd and Theatre Impresario, Scott, and I got on a bus tour, put together by COSPAR coordinating committee, and headed to Palmdale, CA for a tour of the airborne observatory, SOFIA.

Saturday, July 21, 2018

COSPAR Day 6: Water Worlds and search for life; Resident Astronomer takes IR selfie; Planck CMB team and analysis; Inflation?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


Well here we are at day 6 of COSPAR and this morning's plenary session was on ocean worlds of the outer solar system and later session on other space research topics kept us busy all day long.  I am pretty tired, so I hope these comments make sense, but nonetheless still plan to hold in there until the last day and write one more COSPAR summary tomorrow.

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

COSPAR 2018: Day 2 and 3; US/Russia radiation belts and history; Gaia and Astrometry; ALMA and protoplanetary disks; Beneath the clouds with Juno; Mars obliquity

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


We have just finished up with our first two full days of technical sessions and presentations at COSPAR 2018 in Pasadena, CA.  This blog post makes some comments and brief summaries of a few of the many technical issues and latest results.

Monday, July 16, 2018

Resident Astronomer finds life with first light on new camera?; Multi-messenger astronomy with neutrinos and gamma rays; Physicst wannabes at COSPAR 2018 in Pasadena

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


Well this week will be occupied with COSPAR 2018 in Pasadena, but in the meantime we can report on the first light through the telescope to the new camera and also report on the latest news on the multi-messenger astronomy front.

Friday, July 13, 2018

New cosmic ray course; Don Brun's measurement of light bending during the eclipse; Should the expansion of the universe make galaxies larger?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, we are back in the observatory after having a fantastic opportunity to do some imaging and viewing though the 60 inch Hale Telescope located at Mt. Wilson Observatory as described in our recent July 10 post.  First of all, given that this is Friday the 13th, we should ask if there are any superstitious astronomers or astrophysicist wannabe out there?  Nah; I didn't think so!

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Hooray, first observing session at Mt. Wilson Observatory 60 inch telescope; Is an image from 60 inch brighter than 6 inch scope?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


Well, our opportunity to observe through the Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) 60 inch telescope finally came to be.  We had been disappointed many times in past and had to reschedule our session due to weather several times and even forest fires when the dome could not be opened due to flying ash.

Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Astronomer Assistant Ruby's mother invades the observatory; Reliving college excitement about "The Fountainhead" at OCON 2018; Happy 4th of July Celebration

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well this has been another busy week at the observatory, what with some house guests, and our observing session on Mt. Wilson 60 inch scope now just a week away, and me off to another 3 days of a 5 day conference in Newport Beach.  There is not much we can do about the Mt. Wilson trip, but to hope for clear weather.

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Yep, you can see how polar alignment solves field rotation problem; AIAA Planetary Defense Mini-conference; Falcon rocket comparisons

Greetings from Palmia Observatory


Well, the weather prediction finally showed one night without June gloom coming in with clouds.  So, we went out to gather some images of Jupiter's Moons' orbital plane to verify the benefits of a polar aligned mount to overcome field rotation.