When you want to see the stars, find someplace dark
As one who has spent much of my life working with my hands, I appreciate the old skills. Cobblers exemplify these sort of skills. A trade that has all but vanished in the developed world, cobblers can still be found practicing in places like the market in Camoapa, Nicaragua…
W. M. Keck Observatory press release…
Twenty-five years ago in 1990, the average US house cost $123,000, the Dow Jones averaged 2633 and gasoline cost a little more than a dollar-thirty a gallon. Saturn wasn’t just a planet: it was now a newly launched car company from GM, The Simpsons was aired for the first time and the Space Shuttle Discovery placed the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.
Before the W. M. Keck Observatory was built, the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory reigned supreme. It was the largest telescope in the world, but after 50 years, progress in astronomy was flattening out because the instruments needed more photons than the 5-meter mirror could provide.
The biggest hindrance to an explosion of discoveries was a want of light and the telescopes themselves were the problem. Mirrors larger than Palomar’s could not be made and supported at the exacting levels needed for astronomy.
Continue reading “Hawaii Discovers: The World’s Leading Observatory Was Born in Hawaii 25 Years Ago”
I suggest you hit the full screen icon to get a sense of being there…
Horse-drawn transportation is quite common in Nicaragua. Everywhere we went horses were a common sight on the road. This was not only a feature of more rural areas, even in major cities you will encounter horse powered vehicles.
I found the use of horses for basic transport rather pleasant, though I only had a brief ride at one of the farms. With one or two exceptions, the horses looked well cared for and in excellent shape. The horse is still a practical and cost effective form of transportation in much of the world. I wonder if we in the US, under pressure from rising oil prices, will once again find the horse a practical form of transport as well.
W. M. Keck Observatory press release by Sean Adkins…
Every night, all over the world, people look up at the sky and wonder about the distant stars. Here in Hawaii we have the privilege of looking up at a very dark sky, but even here with the naked eye we can only see a few thousand stars. This is mainly because of the small size of the lens in our eye, which limits the amount of light it can gather, and also limits the detail we can see for those incredibly distant objects.
First light, the first time light from the night sky is focused into an image by a telescope, is a very special event for the community of people required to build and use them, accompanied by a nearly mystical sensation as it culminates years of dedication to completing the project and bringing the Universe a little closer to all humankind.
Since the invention of the telescope 400 years ago, we have been looking at the sky in with much bigger manmade eyes, seeking to learn more and more about our Universe. This has been possible because we have been able to build larger and larger telescopes. For a time telescopes were developed with either lenses or mirrors, but the understanding of telescope design improved, telescopes using mirrors became the choice for larger telescopes. In 1977 the largest telescope on earth was the Hale telescope at Mount Palomar, with a mirror 5 meters in diameter. Astronomers at the University of California knew that their research was reaching the limit of what could be done with the Hale and smaller telescopes, and so they started a project to design and build a 10 meter telescope. This was a very ambitious goal, since even the Hale was known to have limited performance because of the tendency of its mirror to change shape as the telescope was pointed at different places in the sky.
Continue reading “Keck Celebrates 25 years Since First Light”
While the language barrier was usually a bit of a problem, sometimes I got the message quite clearly despite only understanding half the words.
Residents from across the valley had gathered, including many who were not attending the class inside, any excuse to gather and socialize. Women gathered around the kitchen at one end of the house, quite a few younger men gathered around a pickup parked under cover at the other end of the house. The kids were everywhere.
Someone apparently had an idea, I will never know who, “Let’s get the gringo on a horse!” I first noticed when everyone was looking at me. “Uh? What do you want? What about the horse?”
With a dozen guys looking on I had to give in to their insistence and to get on the horse. Fortunato, our driver was no help, he was trying to translate for me, telling me to get on the horse and laughing with the rest. Language was of little issue, the jovial comments and laughter were a clear indication of what they thought would happen. The kids in particular were looking on with glee.
Much to their disappointment, I can ride a horse.
While I am no great horseman, I do know the basics, and generally do not fall off. Actually the horse was a very well trained and a well behaved animal. My mount took directions well and I rode a quick circuit of the yard. I could sense the let down in my spectators, the kids particularly. They were nice enough to take my photo when I handed them the camera.
Sometimes the drive into work is just a bit pretty. This was sunrise yesterday as I drove to meet the mountain crew in Waimea…
