New Laser Marks Ground Zero for Adaptive Optics Science

W. M. Keck Observatory press release…

Hawaii’s W. M. Keck Observatory has successfully deployed a $4 million laser system that provides a marked increase in the resolution and clarity of what are already the most scientifically productive telescopes on Earth. The new laser was projected on the sky for the first time on the evening of December 1, 2015 and will allow scientists from around the world to observe the heavens above Maunakea in unprecedented detail.

Keck 2 Lasing
The Keck 2 AO laser works the northern sky
“The Next Generation Laser System is the third generation of lasers at Keck Observatory, which has been pioneering Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics on big telescopes since 2001,” said Jason Chin, the project manager for the new laser at Keck Observatory.

The first Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics system on a large telescope was commissioned on the Keck II telescope in 2004 and, among many other firsts, helped reveal the black hole at the center of the Milky Way – one the most significant astronomical discoveries. The second laser system was installed in 2011 on the Keck I telescope, propelling Keck Observatory’s lead as the premiere Adaptive Optics research facility in the world. To date more than 240 science results from these laser systems have been published in astronomical journals.

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NASA Honors Keck Observatory for Opening its Archive to the Public

W. M. Keck Observatory press release…

Keck 2 Lasing
The Keck 2 AO laser works the northern sky
The W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii has just been awarded the 2015 NASA Group Achievement Award for pioneering the Keck Observatory Archive (KOA) ten years ago, which has significantly increased the impact of Keck Observatory data. The award was received by Keck Observatory Chief Scientist, Dr. Anne Kinney at NASA headquarters on December 8, 2015.

“For the past 10 years, the NASA KOA team has boosted the science value of data acquired at Keck Observatory by providing the scientific community with open access to WMKO data,” said Mario Perez, Keck Observatory Program Executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “They helped set a standard that all new ground based observatories are adopting. For this, the NASA KOA team has earned the NASA Group Achievement Award.”

“We are very proud of this award as well as the KOA project itself,” said Hilton Lewis, Director of W. M. Keck Observatory. “This was the brainchild of Anne Kinney while she was at NASA and who I am happy to report recently joined Keck Observatory as our Chief Scientist. Thanks to her vision, data gathered by all instruments at Keck Observatory is available for everyone to use. The Keck Observatory telescopes are the most scientifically productive on Earth, responsible for gathering data used in about 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers per year – almost one per night. There are terabytes of valuable data collected over the last 20 years waiting to be mined.”

In 2004, NASA established a partnership with WMKO to acquire large volumes of data from a single instrument, the High Resolution Spectrograph (HIRES), for NASA science purposes. It is standard practice to make data from NASA’s space telescopes available to the world in a public archive, but in 2004 it was unheard of to do the same with data from a ground-based telescope. Kinney, then Director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters, decided to start a visionary project of promoting public access to these data, and the project began by archiving NASA-acquired HIRES data.

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SBIG ST-i Camera Mount

The SBIG ST-i is a useful little camera, I have enjoyed using mine. I usually use the camera for autoguiding, but it can also be used for basic astrophotography and even some science. In preparation for using the ST-i with a group of students I had need to make a couple additional mounts. After I go to the effort of designing a simple solution to my problem I may as well share the solution.

SBIG STi Mount
A simple mount for an SBIG STi camera for use in a piggyback setup
The ST-i camera is designed to slip into a standard telescope focuser in place of an eyepiece, as it is the same diameter at 1.25″. The camera can also be used in a “piggyback” style, mounted atop a telescope and fitted with a standard c-mount lens. Using a lens the camera will have a much larger field of view. The front of the camera is threaded for c-type 1″ threads to accomodate this. The SBIG guiding kit provides such a lens and a ring style mount. If you do not have the kit, or already have a suitable c-mount lens you still need a suitable mount.

ST-i camera mount mechanical drawing

I have included the mechanical drawing for the mount in the link above. I machined this from a block of aluminum. There is no reason it could not be made of wood or plastic to allow fabrication with whatever equipment is available. For wood you may need to make the block a little longer and use inserts for the threading. Plastic could be done pretty much as drawn.

The version I made was milled from a solid chunk of aluminum, but a good version could be easily cut from wood and assembled with brass inserts. The design could also be 3D printed without much loss in mechanical robustness.

To mount a c-mount lens you will need the adapter ring sold by SBIG to convert the 1.25″ filter thread found on the camera to the 1″ c-mount thread. Still, at $40 this ring is a lot less than the $350 guiding kit. Good c-mount lenses can be found from many sources for less than $100. You will need a focal length between 75 and 150mm for a nice image scale and as wide an f/ratio as you can find. The kit includes a 100mm f/2.8 lens which I find is quite useful in guiding my Televue 76mm or the AT6RC.

Geminid Meteor Shower

The annual Geminid meteor shower is one of the most reliable annual meteor showers. The shower is noted for a steady stream of bright meteors with rates of well over 100 per hour.

Leonids in Orion
A pair of Leonid meteors streak through Orion
First observed over 150 years ago this is a interesting meteor shower. The parent body for the Geminids is not a comet, but rather the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. It is somewhat of a mystery how this mostly rocky body gives rise to the debris stream needed to generate a meteor shower.

The shower peak is predicted for December 14th, at around 18:00UT (14Dec 08:00HST). For viewers in the central Pacific this favors the evening of Dec 13th into the morning of Dec 14th, starting around 8pm as Gemini rises in the east. The peak is broad, with near peak rates occurring a day either side of the maximum, thus allowing everyone with a dark sky to enjoy this event. Thus the evening of the 14th may also provide a good viewing opportunity.

Even from more southerly sites, this is an excellent stream of often bright, medium-speed meteors, a rewarding event for all observers, whatever method they employ. The peak has shown slight signs of variability in its rates and timing in recent years, with the more reliably-reported maxima during the past two decades (HMO, p. 171) all having occurred within λ⊙ = 261.5° to 262.4°, 2015 December 14, 01h30m–23h UT. Near-peak Geminid rates usually persist for almost a day though, so much of the world has the chance to enjoy something of the shower’s best, regardless of when the maximum actually happens. Mass-sorting within the stream means fainter telescopic meteors should be most abundant almost a day ahead of the visual maximum, with telescopic results indicating such meteors radiate from an elongated region, perhaps with three sub-centres. Further results on this topic would be useful. The 2015 peak arrives just three days after new Moon, so observing conditions are ideal. – IMO 2015 Meteor Calendar

As noted by the IMO calendar entry above, new Moon will be on the 11th, placing the peak just a few days after new, a thin crescent in the evening sky that will set early. This leaves a perfect dark sky to enjoy the meteor shower. In the islands Gemini will rise around 8pm, bringing the constellation Gemini and the shower radiant over the horizon and marking the start of the show.

Watching meteors requires no more equipment than your eyes and a dark sky, and can be enjoyable for just about anyone.

The Town Character

He was friendly… Too friendly.

Wandering the town of Sábalos I met quite a few people, from shopkeepers to a trio of giggling schoolgirls wanting me to take their photo. This town is familiar with tourists, quite a few travel the Río San Juan. Most would come through Sábalos on their way downriver.

I chatted for a while with a local guide, he was checking to see if I needed his services and spoke excellent English. He runs tours downriver to El Castillo and the biological preserves. Anything to make a living in the new Nicaragua he explains, alluding to the troubled past.

The docks are the focal point of the whole town. Nearly everyone passes through these docks, arriving on the river taxis that are the primary method of travel. As I complete my tour of town I head back to the docks. One fellow approaches me, says hola and shakes my hand. He asks me where I am from and where I am going, very friendly.

The camera was in my hand, my wallet tucked away in a deep zippered pocket. We talked for a moment, as best we could with my smattering of Spanish and his few words in English. Some other folks on the dock give me a knowing smile, they obviously knew his habits. Perhaps he was a bit drunk, maybe he was just a go-lucky sort of fellow, I expect he is harmless.

There is not much I can say, having exhausted the few words we shared in either language. I bid him goodbye and head for the little ferry to take me to the other side of the river and back to the hotel.

Still, our encounter stands out in my memory. Travel is like that, you meet people, you see another part of the world where life is much different. I wonder what his life story is, at least I have a good photo…

Town Character
A friendly fellow on the Sábalos town docks