Some middle east loot? Weighing the Milky Way; What is happening with the Mars Sample Return mission?

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well we are still a bit jet lagged after returning from our cruise, but we still need to update our calendar and start planning for the next round of astronomy and physics meetings and events.  For instance, we see the upcoming AAS and APS meetings and the NASA Astrobiology Workshop in Irvine.

3-axis camera stabilizer? Mumbai at a glance; Astronomers capture the Milky Way and make it around the globe in 21 days

Greetings from Palmia Observatory

Well, we are finally back on solid earth and this is the final post covering our exciting cruise from Athens to Mumbai, and our attempt at capturing an image of the Milky Way in the very dark skies aboard a cruise ship on the Red Sea.

Arriving in Muscat, Oman; Rougher seas and wobbly walkers and spindly legged camera tripod; Million dollar hat combo

Greetings from Palmia Observatory (somewhere in the Arabian Sea on our way to Mumbai),

Well, we had an exciting day in Muscat, which sadly was our last day in Oman.  The ship tracker screenshot shows our current progress toward Mumbai, which will take one more day at sea.

Finding Frankincense in Salalah; Rolling seas now might make long exposure imaging difficult; Studying Noether symmetry and conservation laws and martinis

Greetings from Palmia Observatory (offsite in remote location approaching Muscat, Oman),

Well we have left Salalah and are slowly making our way to Muscat.  We have left the protected gulf area and are now experiencing rougher seas and we need to struggle a bit and hold on the hand rails sometimes when walking about ship so, maybe not much more long exposure astrophotography opportunities in this condition.

Hooray, got long exposure image of the Milky Way from our cruise ship; Comparing cruise ship brightness to the moon; Pirates and martinis

Greetings from Palmia Observatory (remote at some location in the Gulf of Aden),

Well, we had some good success last night in getting some long exposure images of the MilkyWay while on our moving cruise ship.  Before we get into that success, let’s review where we are at.