Saturday, January 15, 2011
Day 6
This was our last night of imaging, and the seeing was just okay. The Jupiter folks decided not to take the time to focus well and it seemed that the videos suffered, however we on the nebula team really took our time to focus. This did not help us though because our seeing was bad. This was still good seeing however it was bad compared to the other nights. We still got some okay images but not spectacular. I then stayed up for the Saturn group and Saturn looked amazing through the telescope. The videos were not that great but the images still looked really cool. That night was quite sad though because it was our last night and I really wanted to stay up and just keep imaging things but the sun was near and we had to go to bed.
Day 5
Unlike day one of observing I was not the first one up. I awoke about 1 o'clock and ate some breakfast. Then we proceeded to hike up to the top of mount Bigelow. This view was absolutely amazing. The hike itself was pretty easy however the thin air did not really help. After we got back it was time to open the dome and around six start imaging Jupiter. Jupiter went really well the night was clear and the seeing was good. After that it was time to image our Nebula. The seeing was again great and our spot size was around 3.8 to 4.0. The pictures we took looked amazing. After we were done I decided to take a short nap. Well this backfired because me phone ended up below my bed and I did not hear my alarm. Instead of waking up at 3 I woke up at 5:30. By this time Saturn imaging was over and it was time for bed.
Starizona is one of my favorite stores
I had never seen such an excellent display of optical technology. Starizona has everything I would instinctively go to the internet to find. I was even able to inspect the very model of telescope I am considering purchasing from Amazon.
Dr. Arion also took us to see a photography gallery which I found interesting. I don't know much about photography, but I was still able appreciate some of the art. I wonder what the German Tourists thought of my shirt which says on the back "Speaking German makez you better looking". Perhaps they agree.
Other than that, the Packers won, and I learned of the sport of competitive climbing for kids under ten.
Overall, another wunderbar tag in Arizona.
Dr. Arion also took us to see a photography gallery which I found interesting. I don't know much about photography, but I was still able appreciate some of the art. I wonder what the German Tourists thought of my shirt which says on the back "Speaking German makez you better looking". Perhaps they agree.
Other than that, the Packers won, and I learned of the sport of competitive climbing for kids under ten.
Overall, another wunderbar tag in Arizona.
First Full Day Back at Casa de La Quinta
Woke up this morning after sleeping on an actually comfortable bed for the first time since going up to the observatory, needless to say I was feeling very well rested! Went over to the lobby for some delicious waffles and more from the continental breakfast that I missed so much. After breakfast, we all headed out to the University of Arizona campus once again, this time, it was to visit the photography department building to see their current exhibitions. At the gallery, we saw an amazing collection of landscapes, portraits, and other brilliant photographs that showed fantastic artistic expertise. When our time on campus had concluded, we drove to a store called "Starizona" which featured an amazing inventory of fantastic astronomy products, such as high quality telescopes, various publications, and optical accessories, I was considering buying a Space-Pen, but I didn't want to spend $20.00 for a single pen. Later that night, Ryan and I met up with Melissa, Justin, Coty, and Eric at Touchdowns to watch the Packers destroy the Atlanta Falcons 48-21 to advance to the NFC Championship Game! It's unbelievable how just when this trip can't seem to get any better, something like this comes along that makes it even more incredible!
Packers Win!!
Today we started our day by touring an art gallery at the University of Arizona, it was really interesting! I have never seen such beautiful black and white photos as the ones on display by Ansel Adams. I can appreciate the photos much more now that I have been surrounded by mountains such as the ones he photographed. My favorite photographs were the two he took five years apart at the same spot in one of the National Parks. I felt it was awesome how it outlined the change that can happen in that time period. We finished up there and made our way to our next destination, Starizona.
At Starizona I picked up some post cards to send to my family. But the real highlight of this store was the Registax pointers I received from the owner. I approached him with some questions and he was very helpful, he cleared up the proper number of frames i should aim to stack, and also helped me understand many of the wavelet (sharpening) commands. After trying some of the pointers out it seems the best one was to align the frames using one alignment box around the whole planet. It helped clean up much of the image fragmenting that was happening with multiple points. He also explained that this happens because on an image with low resolution it is hard for the program to track the small points we were picking. Look at the comparison from before and after I tried these techniques.
Before:
After:
And the highlight of the night was the Green Bay Packers dismembering the Atlanta Falcons (41-24 I believe), NFC Championship HERE WE COME!!!
At Starizona I picked up some post cards to send to my family. But the real highlight of this store was the Registax pointers I received from the owner. I approached him with some questions and he was very helpful, he cleared up the proper number of frames i should aim to stack, and also helped me understand many of the wavelet (sharpening) commands. After trying some of the pointers out it seems the best one was to align the frames using one alignment box around the whole planet. It helped clean up much of the image fragmenting that was happening with multiple points. He also explained that this happens because on an image with low resolution it is hard for the program to track the small points we were picking. Look at the comparison from before and after I tried these techniques.
Before:
And the highlight of the night was the Green Bay Packers dismembering the Atlanta Falcons (41-24 I believe), NFC Championship HERE WE COME!!!
Mountain Day 1
We have fought but the first skirmish up here on the mountain. Well, to be more accurate there were many skirmishes our first night on the mountain, but who's to say where each started and ended. Suffice it to say it was an interesting night.
We arrived on the mountain a bit before 1pm and got spent a few hours getting acclimated to the dome before moving into the dorm. Amid the at times testy chaos of deciding how to cram 11 people onto 4 beds, we somehow managed to get everything put away before observing time started.
The sun had barely set before we began imaging Jupiter, and we obtained some very good pictures. I'll leave it to the other posters to put up the actual pictures, as the mechanics of the operation interested me more than the result. The major problem with ground based astronomey is the atmosophere, as it will bend/scatter/absorb incoming light, all of which can distort the picture. However, there are brief momments in which the atmosphere will be clear as the atmosphere is in constant motion. By using a webcam to take many pictures in a short period, some of those pictures are inevitably very sharp. By using a computer program to "stack" the images, we combine the many exposures into one high quality picture.
In other words, we're using the strategy of "Spray and Pray"
While our initial efforts yeilded wonderful pictures, the weather had something to say about it. Clouds rolled in about the time Jupiter set. While we could still take nebula pictures, the pictures were not of data quality. Still, we had several hours of learning the machines and the proccess. At least, until the power outage.
Around 3am we lost power as part of a regional power outage. Although we eventually got the generator running, we closed up the dome as the cloud cover was prohibitive to imaging both the nebula and saturn.
We arrived on the mountain a bit before 1pm and got spent a few hours getting acclimated to the dome before moving into the dorm. Amid the at times testy chaos of deciding how to cram 11 people onto 4 beds, we somehow managed to get everything put away before observing time started.
The sun had barely set before we began imaging Jupiter, and we obtained some very good pictures. I'll leave it to the other posters to put up the actual pictures, as the mechanics of the operation interested me more than the result. The major problem with ground based astronomey is the atmosophere, as it will bend/scatter/absorb incoming light, all of which can distort the picture. However, there are brief momments in which the atmosphere will be clear as the atmosphere is in constant motion. By using a webcam to take many pictures in a short period, some of those pictures are inevitably very sharp. By using a computer program to "stack" the images, we combine the many exposures into one high quality picture.
In other words, we're using the strategy of "Spray and Pray"
While our initial efforts yeilded wonderful pictures, the weather had something to say about it. Clouds rolled in about the time Jupiter set. While we could still take nebula pictures, the pictures were not of data quality. Still, we had several hours of learning the machines and the proccess. At least, until the power outage.
Around 3am we lost power as part of a regional power outage. Although we eventually got the generator running, we closed up the dome as the cloud cover was prohibitive to imaging both the nebula and saturn.
Day 8: Uneventful
A quick review of last night. We had a wonderful dinner with our benifactor, Mrs. Stalbitz (spelling may be slightly wrong) at a rather relaxing mexican restaraunt. I enjoyed some Red Snapper cooked in butter and garlic, and it is without a doubt in my mind some of the best food I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Everyone ate themselves sick, and a good time was had by all. She was a suprisingly charming lady, who's age I guessed wrong by 20 years in her favor.
Today was uneventful, as I'm sure you guessed. Data has been transfered, and shall be analyzed shortly after the conclusion of this blog. We visited UoA to explore photographer's work, but it did little to hold my interest. After, we visted Starizona, an observatory store. While cool, what little interested I had there was well out of my price range. After, we returned to campus.
I did have an opportunity to try my prickly pear cactus and cactus apple jellies. I prefer the latter on toast, but today was in desperate need of a food experiment. Thus, my ham and cheese (with lettace) sandwhich was topped NOT with mayo, but instead with prickly pear cactus jelly. The flavor was strange, to say the least, but it was enjoyable. The rest of the class is preparing to watch the Packers game; I'm preparing for a few hours of peace as I stack saturn.
Today was uneventful, as I'm sure you guessed. Data has been transfered, and shall be analyzed shortly after the conclusion of this blog. We visited UoA to explore photographer's work, but it did little to hold my interest. After, we visted Starizona, an observatory store. While cool, what little interested I had there was well out of my price range. After, we returned to campus.
I did have an opportunity to try my prickly pear cactus and cactus apple jellies. I prefer the latter on toast, but today was in desperate need of a food experiment. Thus, my ham and cheese (with lettace) sandwhich was topped NOT with mayo, but instead with prickly pear cactus jelly. The flavor was strange, to say the least, but it was enjoyable. The rest of the class is preparing to watch the Packers game; I'm preparing for a few hours of peace as I stack saturn.
Eighth Day: Another Short Day
Today was yet another short, relaxing day. We had a couple hours of free time to work on data before leaving to tour the University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography and visit Starizona, a small astronomy/telescope store. Mostly we just admired the telescopes, since all but the smallest are both way too expensive and too hard to get home. The drive there and back was "entertaining", with those of us in the Charger trying to keep up with all the (illegal) U-turns taken at mach 3 and zooming through about a half-dozen yellow lights so as to not get left behind. We did stay safe and caught back up when we did get stuck at a light, but it was an interesting drive none the less.
There are a few rabid Packers fans among us, Prof. Arion included, and they insisted on getting back before the game tonight starts, so we have the rest of the night off to work with the data and continue recovering from the all-nighters at Kuiper. My computer appears to be doing better, but it remains to be seen how it will handle crunching all our files. My apologies for not having any pictures to post, but we weren't allowed to take any at the CCP and nothing else really struck me as photo-worthy today. I may see how sunset looks tonight and post a couple later, but we'll see how it goes.
Jenny
There are a few rabid Packers fans among us, Prof. Arion included, and they insisted on getting back before the game tonight starts, so we have the rest of the night off to work with the data and continue recovering from the all-nighters at Kuiper. My computer appears to be doing better, but it remains to be seen how it will handle crunching all our files. My apologies for not having any pictures to post, but we weren't allowed to take any at the CCP and nothing else really struck me as photo-worthy today. I may see how sunset looks tonight and post a couple later, but we'll see how it goes.
Jenny
Today is a good day.
We came down from the telescope in good spirits. I found out that a physics professor can in fact break the sound barrier while hurtling down a mountain in a Minivan. I volunteered to drive the Charger in pursuit, forgetting that I might have been the only one in that car who LIKES near-death experiences.
The people in the van learned a lesson: For Douglas Arion, there are no "lanes," "dividers," or "brakes."
The people in the Charger learned a lesson too: When Ian Brodie tries to follow Douglas Arion down a mountain road, seatbelts and diapers are a must.
We had dinner with Mrs. Staubitz, the benefactor of our telescope time at Steward and a very nice lady. She treated us to a fancy dinner of Mexican seafood, fried ice cream, and authentic flan. I was at the opposite end of the table from her, so unfortunately did not get to converse much. The rest of the evening was spent recovering from dinner.
Today, we begin our real work. The data is being distributed among everybody, and the fun begins. Some finished products to be posted soon. The sun is shining, and the energy levels are back up. It is lunch time.
Pillow talk
Our final morning (noon wake-up time) on the mountain left many of us feeling tired and extremely grubby. We took our team picture in front of the dome and began our descent down the mountain. We reached our hotel and put a nice dent in their water supply with all of us taking showers and getting ready for dinner. We ate at an up-scale Mexican restaurant with Mrs. Staubitz. Back at the hotel, Coty and I relaxed for a bit before Ian summoned us to chill in his room with a few others. Once back in our room, we found the Disney channel airing "The Cheetah Girls" and decide to watch it for a while. We decided that it was time for bed, turned off the TV and had a nice long chat, or pillow talk, before finally falling asleep!
Final Observing Time
On our last day at the observatory, we went over to Summerhaven at about 13:30. It was a nice little town amongst the mountains. Apparently they had a bad forest fire some years back that burnt much of the town. Nonetheless it is a nice tourist attraction. We took a hike up a mountain from the town; it was on a snow-dirt mixture path. I liked this hike, because it was a little more challenging than the others; it was also pretty warm for being up on the mountain. Afterword we stopped at a couple gift shops in town, ordered some pizza from the local pizza place, and almost everyone got some fudge from the fudge shop (how could you not).
We went back to the observatory to prepare for our last observing night around 16:30. It was a decent night for viewing, very good to start. We used the 55mm lens for our last day so that Saturn could fit better on our computer screen. As usual, the sky was beautiful for Jupiter viewing and we got some nice images. The remainder of the people (including me) who had not yet taken pictures of a nebula did so. I imaged The Orion Nebula (NGC 1976). It looked crazy, it was like a bondfire that was being blown in one direction by the wind. After spending some time stacking images of Jupiter, I went to help out with Saturn imaging. There were some images of Saturn that looked better than those of the previous day, but as time went on the sky became less clear and the images got blurier.
The next day we got up, packed up, and left the observatory a little after 13:00. The view on the trip down the mountain seemed even better than the one on the way up. We stopped once at a sight where we could see a series of waterfalls; this was interesting, because there is not a ton of precipitation in the area. Later that night we went to dinner with Mrs. Staubitz, a generous donor to the physics department (helps pay for the trip). She was very nice, and we had a great time and ate some great food.
We went back to the observatory to prepare for our last observing night around 16:30. It was a decent night for viewing, very good to start. We used the 55mm lens for our last day so that Saturn could fit better on our computer screen. As usual, the sky was beautiful for Jupiter viewing and we got some nice images. The remainder of the people (including me) who had not yet taken pictures of a nebula did so. I imaged The Orion Nebula (NGC 1976). It looked crazy, it was like a bondfire that was being blown in one direction by the wind. After spending some time stacking images of Jupiter, I went to help out with Saturn imaging. There were some images of Saturn that looked better than those of the previous day, but as time went on the sky became less clear and the images got blurier.
The next day we got up, packed up, and left the observatory a little after 13:00. The view on the trip down the mountain seemed even better than the one on the way up. We stopped once at a sight where we could see a series of waterfalls; this was interesting, because there is not a ton of precipitation in the area. Later that night we went to dinner with Mrs. Staubitz, a generous donor to the physics department (helps pay for the trip). She was very nice, and we had a great time and ate some great food.
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