Threatening Clouds

The official reason that Kitt Peak and MDM domes are closed tonight is "due to threatening clouds".  They were threatening, but the colors were unreal.

I took this just walking out of the control room. All of the buildings should be white.  The dome straight ahead is silver.  That is also where I was observing a few nights ago.

This is the view of the sun setting behind the dome that I'm presently using.

Everything really was golden.  

Oh Look,On Even More Mountains

I have been downgrading telescopes all week.  I started at CHARA (which is a one-of-a-kind facility), then I moved to the bigger of the two telescopes at UM's MDM Observatory, and now I am at the smaller of the two telescopes.  The control room here smells funny.

I like both CHARA and the bigger telescope here because I don't have to go outside or through dark hallways to use the restroom.

I have to do both at this telescope.  I go outside, then go through an open room with shop equipment, then down some stairs, into a dark hallway.

On a positive note, this is what the sunrise looks like.

On More Mountains

As I said before, I went from Yosemite to observing.  The first four nights of observing were spent at Mount Wilson.  I had just been there in May.  This time, I was there with my advisor, one of his post docs, and his other graduate student.  A collaborator also came up one night.  It was rather crowded.

Of the four from UM, I was the last one to show up.  That meant that I got housed in the nice accommodations at CHARA (Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy).  I had a nice cottage (built in 1901) all to myself.  It had a stunning view of the valley below.  Unfortunately, LA fills the valley with lights.  Fortunately, the marine layer minimizes the effects and I observe in the infrared wavelengths.

Here is a view of one of the six CHARA telescopes, well the open dome and secondary mirror.  One of the solar telescopes is seen in the back on the right.  Behind the small dome is one of Mount Wilson's historic telescope domes, where the 60-inch telescope is housed.  For revenue, Mount Wilson allows people to come up the mountain and rent the telescope for the night.  The renters get a guide that points to pretty things all night for $1700/night.  $1700.  (OK, they also do half nights, and groups can be up to 25 people.  However, I've run observing sessions for classes and smaller groups are better.  It is a better use of money than buying a star.)

Yosemite National Park

I spent four nights in Yosemite National Park, and I didn't want to leave.  If I had been going back to normal work, I may not have, but I left to spend two weeks of observing.

My requirements were to see giant trees and waterfalls.  The first area that I visited was a grove of giant sequoia trees, Tuolemne Grove.  It was awesome.  You just walk along the forest path, then through the trees there's a tree that's a slightly different color.  You get a little closer to it, and then you realize that this thing is bigger than everything around it.

I have a bunch of pictures of big trees that do nothing to capture their size.

The next stop was a view of the famed rock face for treacherous rock-climbing, El Capitan, from the floor of Yosemite Valley.

While standing there, I turned around to see my first Yosemite waterfall:  Bridalveil Falls.  I had the opportunity to climb around on the boulders that were at the base of the waterfall (but not directly under the water).  I took it...even though there were signs warning people against it and I had the worst sneakers on possible for climbing on slick rocks.

For two nights, I stayed in Yosemite Valley.  I would equate the experience to staying at a resort.  There are restaurants, hotels, and way too many people.  There were lots of waterfalls, so the hikes from the Valley floor were stunning.  I hiked to the front of Vernal Falls.  There's a series of stone steps that leads up to the top of the waterfall, but crosses right in front of it on the aptly-named Mist Trail.  I stopped in front of the waterfall as my knees were already killing me.  The view from above would not have been comparable.

Yosemite Falls were also stunning.

There was lots of driving from overlook to overlook searching for the best view of Yosemite.   All of them were equally awesome.

The next two nights were spent in the mountainy part of Yosemite.  There was more hiking and fewer people.  Since this was where the waterfalls started, there were some nice rivers and streams.  A highlight was lunch next to a pretty lake.  I enjoyed it up there more except for the mosquito bites.  Even with bug repellant, they got me.

I saw some wildlife while there.  I saw a bunch of mule deer, some elk (which I described as huge deerlike things), coyotes, huge birds of many varieties, various butterflies, and small woodland creatures (perhaps a woodchuck?).   No bears or mountain lions.  I hiked in fear of both.

The accommodations were platforms with plastic canvas tents.  Inside were cots and a wood stove (only in the mountainy tent).  There were communal restrooms.  The lodgings weren't terrible, but I can't call it camping.

 I can't believe I didn't visit Yosemite last summer; that was a mistake.