A Darker View

All day the storm atop our mountain continued. As we watched in the cameras the snow fell heavily, often so thick nearby structures disappeared into the white. Unlike yesterday the winds have eased, the snow quickly accumulates where it falls instead of drifting against the structures. As we watch through the day things began to vanish, railings and guardrails buried in the snow.

Mauna Kea Blizzard — A snowstorm continues for a second day atop Mauna Kea, December 2, 2016

The snowplow crews made it to the summit, if only briefly. One pass on the summit ridge near UKIRT could be seen in the cameras as the snow plow passed by. As quickly as they cleared the road the storm again covered it with white. The crews soon realized the futility and retreated down the mountain. They will not even attempt to try tomorrow as the forecast remains dire. They will next attempt to clear the road on Sunday.

Observing is, of course, cancelled.

Continue reading “The Storm Continues”

Purple Mountian

A White Mountain Sunset — A bright coating of fresh snow atop mauna Kea as seen from near Waikoloa, December 1, 2016

Sunset and Sunrise Gallery

Kohala Sunset — Sunset along the Kohala Coast, photo by Deborah Cooper

Submillimeter Fog — A dish of the Submillimeter Array in fog lit by the golden light of sunset

Sunset over the Keck 1 and Subaru telescopes

Sunrise Watchers — A group of tourists brave the cold wind to watch sunrise atop Mauna Kea

Sunset Watchers — Summit visitors watch the sunset

Mauna Kea Resort Sunset — Sunset as seen from the grounds at the Mauna Kea Resort

Sunrise over the Caldera — A rising sun backlights the many fumaroles that dot the walls and floor of Kilauea Caldera

Sunset from Bull Mtn — Sunset as seen from from the front porch of my childhood home on Bull Mtn.

Ending the Day — A runner blowing a shell and lighting the torches across the grounds of the Fairmont Orchid at sunset

Mauna Kea Sunrise — Sunrise over Mauna Kea greets me on the morning commute.

Winter Comes to Mauna Kea

With the first of December winter arrived on Mauna Kea.

It was a proper blizzard, images in the webcams of ice everywhere, blowing snow and accumulating drifts. From the satellite shots and doppler radar the weather was not going the let up anytime soon.

I was scheduled to go up today and arrived in Waimea well before 7am to meet the vehicles. The plan was to spend the day in Keck 2 AO dealing with an optical stage that needed adjustment.

Eric greeted me with an advisory, “If you do not need to go… Don’t”. He had obviously checked the morning reports, something I had not yet done. We pulled up a computer inside and looked at the webcams… Yeah, no need to sit at Hale Pohaku all day waiting for the snowplows. I will stay at HQ for the day, the adjustment can wait.

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The Most Complex of Puzzles

I am currently putting the finishing touches on another printed circuit board.

Layout of a printed circuit board, or PCB, is one of the most complex puzzles I know. Creating a complex PCB takes a great deal of knowledge, a lot of patience, and a robust set of puzzle solving skills. These are the same sort of puzzle skills that might be used to solve a Sudoku or a tough crossword puzzle. Seeing patterns, spotting errors, trial and error, planning ahead, all skills used to their utmost in laying out a PCB.

A PCB is laid out with specialized software, drawn on the computer screen. The software can then generate CAM files that are sent to a board house, a manufacturer who can take these files and create a physical PCB. The PCB is thin layers of copper etched to create the patterns of traces laminated onto a fiberglass substrate. When designing the PCB each component, each copper conductor, each trace, is carefully positioned by the designer on the screen, dragging objects colored lines about to create a solution.

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Sodium Light

The golden yellow glow that has dominated the night for generations is disappearing.

Tenakee Docks at Night — Fishing boats under sodium lamps haunt the Tenakee docks

Low pressure sodium has been the standard technology for outdoor lighting for generations. the soft yellow glow is familiar to anyone who has lived in any urban area, coloring lives and countless photographs of the night.

The yellow glow of sodium light has been both celebrated and reviled. While the glow can be attractive in night scenery it also creates inhuman tones in faces and photos of people. Movies have been shot under sodium lights, songs reference the golden glow. Astronomers both professional and amateur prefer the lights as the light can be easily filtered from view.

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