Palomar Skies

"All Good Things . . ."

2011-07-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

As the saying goes "All good things must come to an end" and so it is that my time here at Palomar Observatory has finally come to an end.

For the last eight years I have had the honor of serving as Palomar's Public Affairs Coordinator. During that time I have immersed myself in the observatory's history and current operations. I have worked to help spread the message of the observatory in a variety of ways. The Palomar Skies blog, which I began in late 2007, has been a forum for me to share news, photos and interesting stories from the observatory. I hope that this project has been informative and enjoyable. I have certainly enjoyed blogging about the observatory.

Starting in August I will be working as the Director of Public Affairs for the International Dark-Sky Association. Preserving dark skies is important not just for professional observatories, but for wildlife and much more. A star-filled night sky has been a tremendous source of inspiration for most of human history and now it is vanishing for almost everybody. In my new role I will work hard to raise awareness for this cause and hopefully bring the Milky Way back for many.

I will likely be blogging there about dark skies. If you are interested, please look me up sometime in August. As for Palomar Skies, it shall remain here, but I will be stepping aside from it. At some point someone will hopefully pick up the keyboard and resume posting here. After all there are many great stories still to share and more discoveries about the universe yet to come.

So long.

Astrophoto Friday - A Marvel in the Darkness

2011-07-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Antonin Mrkos discovered seven comets. These photos of his brightest comet (1957 D) were taken in August 1957 with Palomar Observatory's 48-inch Schmidt Telescope (now called the Samuel Oschin Telescope) by Charles Kearns, George O. Abell and Byron Hill.

Be sure to click on the image to make it larger to see the wonderfully detailed structure of the comet's tail.

Ride the Dome

2011-07-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

We don't often get to turn the Hale Telescope's 1000-ton dome for people while giving a tour, but when we do the video cameras are usually out and running. The turning of the dome is so smooth that it looks and feels like the telescope is rotating. Here is a short video that nicely shows off the effect.

Astrophoto Friday - Colliding Galaxies

2011-07-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

This pair of spiral galaxies are on a collision course with each other. The galaxies lie some 90 million light years from our Milky Way Galaxy. Collectively they are known as Arp 271 and individually as NGC 5426 and NGC 5427. Over the next several million years they will continue the slow gravitational dance that may eventually cause them to merge into one galaxy.

This image of Arp 271 was captured using the wide-angle 48-inch (1.2-meter) Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope. This is a crop of a much larger image. It was taken as a part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey and comes to us from Jason Surace and the PTF collaboration.

For a much more detailed shot, taken by a much larger telescope, be sure to check out this image of Arp 271 taken with the 8-meter Gemini South Telescope.

Celebrate Your Independence with a Tour of the Hale Telescope

2011-07-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Independence Day our regular program of weekend tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope will be extended to include tours on Monday, July 4th.

The Hale Telescope is an icon of American science, so why not come up and see it for the 4th.

Astrophoto Friday - Crab Nebula

2011-07-01T06:00:00.001-07:00

It is nearly Independence Day here in the States. That is traditionally a time for fireworks. It also seems to be a tradition of mine to post a Palomar photo of the Crab Nebula which was created by one of nature's biggest fireworks displays - the collapse and explosion of a massive star (See my post from 2009 and 2010).

The supernova explosion that produced what is now known as the Crab Nebula was first observed on July 4, 1054 A.D. - 722 years before the American Declaration of Independence.

This image of the Crab Nebula was captured using the wide-angle 48-inch Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope. This is a crop of a much larger image. It was taken as a part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey and comes to us from Jason Surace and the PTF collaboration.

Happy Hale Day!

2011-06-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

For those of you keeping score at home, George Ellery Hale was born 143 years ago today.

Hale can been seen in the photo above (on the right) talking with his arms linked with an enraptured Andrew Carnegie. It is one of my favorite photos of Hale because you can see him in action. Hale was a wildly successful dreamer and schemer who numerous times was able to talk the rich and famous out of money to advance knowledge. He did this not only for astronomy, but in many other areas as well.

Make No Small Plans
Dream No Small Dreams

If you missed the recent re-broadcast of The Journey to Palomar on PBS, you can catch it on Hulu and learn more about this amazing man.

Astrophoto Friday

2011-06-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

It is the return of Astrophoto Friday!

The image is of the globular star cluster known as NGC 288.

This image was captured using the wide-angle 48-inch Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope. This is a crop of a much larger image. It was taken as a part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey and comes to us from Jason Surace and the PTF collaboration.

Reminder: The Journey to Palomar on PBS

2011-06-22T06:00:00.000-07:00

Consider yourself reminded that The Journey to Palomar airs on many PBS stations tonight (June 22nd). Be sure to check your local listings and check out the trailer below:

The trailer was made for the first airing of the documentary, which is why it says "November 10th" at the end. Feel free to ignore that.

Palomar in a Vintage Escondido Travel Brochure

2011-06-21T13:26:00.000-07:00

PALM-3000, the world's best adaptive optics instrument, is currently on the Hale Telescope, but instead of talking about that, I am going to share a bit of Palomar history.

Below are scans from a 1951 brochure put out by the Escondido Chamber of Commerce.

You are going to want to click on the image below to view the inside of the brochure which was written by David O. Woodbury. Some of you may recall that Woodbury was the author The Glass Giant of Palomar, one of the first books to tell the story of the 200-inch telescope. The details described inside are pretty much spot on, but the one odd thing is the diagram that shows off the path of light through the telescope. There are several places where light can be focused and the illustration shows the just one of the three -- coudé focus.

The back cover of the brochure shows the location of Escondido and how to get to the observatory via The Highway to the Stars.

Alas, The Highway to the Stars signs that once marked the roadway are now long gone. The observatory now sells a reproduction of the sign on one of our t-shirts, but here is how they looked:

The Journey to Palomar Returns to PBS this Week

2011-06-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that The Journey to Palomar, a documentary about George Ellery Hale and the building of the 200-inch telescope, will again be shown on PBS. It is a moving and inspirational story that is not to be missed.

Follow this link to check your local listings.

A short clip is posted below.

Watch the full episode. See more The Journey to Palomar.

Palomar Mountain State Park to Close

2011-06-17T10:07:00.000-07:00

You may have heard that Palomar Mountain State Park is on the list of 70 California State Parks that are slated to be closed. A lot of people have been asking me how this will affect Palomar Observatory. People have even been asking me if this meant that the observatory will be closing.

Palomar Observatory is privately owned by the California Institute of Technology, a private research university located in Pasadena. Palomar Mountain State Park is owned by the State of California. A closure of the park will have no direct affect on the observatory (although I suspect we will have fewer campers coming our way as tourists).

Palomar Observatory is not closing. We have a lot of work still to do.

Looking Ahead

2011-06-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month the 2011B observing schedule for the 200-inch Hale Telescope was announced. The astronomers who applied for time in early April finally found out if and when they will be coming to Palomar from August through January.

I thought that the readers of Palomar Skies might like summary of the projects coming our way this fall, so here goes.

Photo by Iair Arcavi.

Transients are all the rage and 13 nights, spread out across the months, will be devoted to following up on objects discovered with the Palomar Transient Factory survey. An additional four nights will be devoted to doing similar work, but for transients discovered via the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey. Both of these programs will primarily use our visible light spectrograph to identify the type of transients discovered. One other night will specifically devoted to a particular type of supernova known as a Type Ia.

The other big item on the agenda for 2011B is the study of exoplanets. Some of this is follow-up work from the Kepler mission. 14 nights are devoted to various studies on Kepler exoplanets or their host stars. Much of this is visible or near infrared spectroscopy, but some of it also makes use of our newly souped-up adaptive optics system known as PALM-3000. This high-resolution imaging system will be used 12 nights to study and hunt for exoplanets and planet-forming disks of debris located around young stars. Using instruments other than the AO system, two nights will be used to study some of these disks discovered by the WISE mission and another two to study some “hot Jupiters” as they are seen to transit their host stars. All together that comes to 30 nights of exoplanets in 2011B or 1/6th of the telescope time.

Speaking of planets and things that orbit a star, worlds of our own solar system are a subject of study too. This includes studies of asteroids (8 nights), the Galilean moons of Jupiter (1), the irregular satellites of the outer planets (2), the atmosphere of Uranus (1), and the frozen world located beyond Neptune in the Kuiper Belt (2).

Looking a little further out, 12 nights will be devoted to studying brown dwarfs, so called “failed stars” – objects that are more massive than a planet but not massive enough to sustain nuclear fusion the way that stars do. Many of the objects to be observed were first discovered by the WISE mission.

Lots of stellar astrophysics will be going on as our astronomers study star formation (3), young stars and protostars (4), young variable stars, novae (4), white dwarfs (2), x-ray binary systems (1). The presence of dark matter in our own galaxy will be mapped via studies of the motions of RR Lyrae type variable stars that are part of the Pisces tidal stream (3).

Photo by Iair Arcavi.

Looking beyond our galaxy is still a big part of science at Palomar. In fact, aside from engineering time, it comprises the rest of the time on the schedule. Massive stars and the chemistry of the stars in M31 (aka the Andromeda Galaxy), our nearest big galaxy, will be the subject of study for 8 nights. Included on the list are blue compact dwarf galaxies (2), massive elliptical galaxies (5), hyperluminous galaxies (1), low-luminosity star-forming galaxies (5), galaxies known as Lyman-alpha emitters (7), luminous infrared galaxies (7), and galaxy clusters (6). Five nights will be directed toward the evolution of galaxies and six nights will be devoted toward using the Cosmic Web Imager instrument to map out the presence of gas located between galaxies.

Supermassive black holes, which lie at the core of quasars and various galaxies with active galactic nuclei are to be studied for six nights, while quasars themselves are studied another seven nights. The environment in and around another type of active galaxy – radio galaxies— is to be studied for five nights.

It takes time to keep the telescope & its instrumentation in tip-top shape. Seven nights will be lost because we will be re-aluminizing the 200-inch mirror in October. An additional twelve nights will be spent on engineering various scientific cameras, mostly related to our new PALM-3000 adaptive optics system. Two of those nights will be a demonstration of a new instrument known as ARCONS – the ARray Camera for Optical to Near-IR Spectrophotometry. It is likely that there will be science observations on a good fraction of these “engineering” nights.

Finally, we will be closed to astronomy and engineering December 24 & 25 for our only two holidays of the year.

There is the summary of what we will be looking at from August through January. Hopefully I didn't miss anything.

Press Coverage for Supernova Story & A Pretty Pic

2011-06-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

The supernova story is making the rounds. In addition to reading about it here on Palomar Skies it has been picked up by Space.com, the LA Times, Physorg, National Geographic, The Republic, Daily India, the San Diego Union Tribune, Universe Today, IO9, HPWREN, Sky & Telescope and others.

Now to make your Friday more special, check out this photo by Caltech astronomer Evan Kirby:

It is a beautiful shot of the "summer" Milky Way taken from next to the dome of the Hale Telescope. For more on what is shown here be sure to check out this posting over at the Bamboo Shoots Photography Blog. There you will find a fully labeled version and an explanation of some of the cool objects in the picture.

Hale Telescope Webcam is Back!

2011-06-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

It has been a tough spring for the webcam in the dome of the 200-inch Hale Telescope, but as summer approaches I am happy to announce that it is back on line.

I made a slight adjustment on the camera's focus this morning and captured this shot of me with the Big Eye. I will try not to block the view from now on.

Press Release: Caltech-led Astronomers Find a New Class of Stellar Explosions

2011-06-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

Below is a press release that was issued today about some of the science behind the Palomar Transient Factory survey.

PASADENA, Calif.—They're bright and blue—and a bit strange. They're a new type of stellar explosion that was recently discovered by a team of astronomers led by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Among the most luminous in the cosmos, these new kinds of supernovae could help researchers better understand star formation, distant galaxies, and what the early universe might have been like.

"We're learning about a whole new class of supernovae that wasn't known before," says Robert Quimby, a Caltech postdoctoral scholar and the lead author on a paper to be published in the June 9 issue of the journal Nature. In addition to finding four explosions of this type, the team also discovered that two previously known supernovae, whose identities had baffled astronomers, also belonged to this new class.

Quimby first made headlines in 2007 when—as a graduate student at the University of Texas, Austin—he discovered what was then the brightest supernova ever found: 100 billion times brighter than the sun and 10 times brighter than most other supernovae. Dubbed 2005ap, it was also a little odd. For one thing, its spectrum—the chemical fingerprint that tells astronomers what the supernova is made of, how far away it is, and what happened when it blew up—was unlike any seen before. It also showed no signs of hydrogen, which is commonly found in most supernovae.

At around the same time, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope discovered a mysterious supernova called SCP 06F6. This supernova also had an odd spectrum, though there was nothing that indicated this cosmic blast was similar to 2005ap.

The 1.2-meter Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory that was used to discover four supernovae of a new class. Inset: one of the newly discovered supernovae, PTF09cnd.

[Credit: Caltech/Scott Kardel/Robert Quimby/modified from Nature]

Shri Kulkarni, Caltech's John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Science and a coauthor on the paper, recruited Quimby to become a founding member of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). The PTF is a project that scans the skies for flashes of light that weren't there before—flashes that signal objects called transients, many of which are supernovae. As part of the PTF, Quimby and his colleagues used the 1.2-meter Samuel Oschin Telescope at Palomar Observatory to discover four new supernovae. After taking spectra with the 10-meter Keck telescopes in Hawaii, the 5.1-meter telescope at Palomar, and the 4.2-meter William Herschel Telescope in the Canary Islands, the astronomers discovered that all four objects had an unusual spectral signature.

Quimby then realized that if you slightly shifted the spectrum of 2005ap—the supernova he had found a couple of years earlier—it looked a lot like these four new objects. The team then plotted all the spectra together. "Boom—it was a perfect match," he recalls.

The astronomers soon determined that shifting the spectrum of SCP 06F6 similarly aligned it with the others. In the end, it turned out that all six supernovae are siblings, and that they all have spectra that are very blue—with the brightest wavelengths shining in the ultraviolet.

According to Quimby, the two mysterious supernovae—2005ap and SCP 06F6—had looked different from one another because 2005ap was 3 billion light-years away while SCP 06F6 was 8 billion light-years away. More distant supernovae have a stronger cosmological redshift, a phenomenon in which the expanding universe stretches the wavelength of the emitted light, shifting supernovae spectra toward the red end.

The four new discoveries, which had features similar to 2005ap and SCP 06F6, were at an intermediate distance, providing the missing link that connected the two previously unexplained supernovae. "That's what was most striking about this—that this was all one unified class," says Mansi Kasliwal, a Caltech graduate student and coauthor on the Nature paper.

Even though astronomers now know these supernovae are related, no one knows much else. "We have a whole new class of objects that can't be explained by any of the models we've seen before," Quimby says. What we do know about them is that they are bright and hot—10,000 to 20,000 degrees Kelvin; that they are expanding rapidly at 10,000 kilometers per second; that they lack hydrogen; and that they take about 50 days to fade away—much longer than most supernovae, whose luminosity is often powered by radioactive decay. So there must be some other mechanism that's making them so bright.

The four supernovae discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory. Left: before explosion. Right: after explosion. From top to bottom, the supernovae are PTF09atu, PTF09cnd, PTF09cwl, and PTF10cwr.

[Credit: Caltech/Robert Quimby/Nature]

One possible model that would create an explosion with these properties involves a pulsating star about 90 to 130 times the mass of the sun. The pulsations blow off hydrogen-free shells, and when the star exhausts its fuel and explodes as a supernova, the blast heats up those shells to the observed temperatures and luminosities.

A second model requires a star that explodes as a supernova but leaves behind what's called a magnetar, a rapidly spinning dense object with a strong magnetic field. The rotating magnetic field slows the magnetar down as it interacts with the sea of charged particles that fills space, releasing energy. The energy heats the material that was previously blown off during the supernova explosion and can naturally explain the brightness of these events.

The newly discovered supernovae live in dim, small collections of a few billion stars called dwarf galaxies. (Our own Milky Way has 200–400 billion stars.) The supernovae, which are almost a hundred times brighter than their host galaxies, illuminate their environments like distant street lamps lighting up dark roads. They work as a kind of backlight, enabling astronomers to measure the spectrum of the interstellar gas that fills the dwarf galaxies in which the supernovae reside, and revealing each galaxy's composition. Once an observed supernova fades a couple of months later, astronomers can directly study the dwarf galaxy—which would have remained undetected if it weren't for the supernova.

These supernovae could also reveal what ancient stars might have been like, since they most likely originate from stars around a hundred times more massive than the sun—stars that would have been very similar to the first stars in the universe.

“It is really amazing how rich the night sky continues to be," Kulkarni says. "In addition to supernovae, the Palomar Transient Factory is making great advances in stellar astronomy as well.”

In addition to Quimby, Kasliwal, and Kulkarni, 24 other authors—11 of whom are from Caltech—contributed to the work described in the Nature paper, "A new class of hydrogen-poor super-luminous stellar explosions." This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundations, the Israeli Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Gordon & Betty Moore foundation, Gary and Cynthia Bengier, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, and the Royal Society. The Palomar Transient Factory is a collaboration between Caltech, Columbia University, Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, UC Berkeley, University of Oxford, and the Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel).

# # #

Written by Marcus Woo

Amateur Astronomers Can Help PTF Study Supernova in M51

2011-06-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

Earlier today I reported the discovery of a new Type II Supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51). The astronomers behind the Palomar Transient Factory have initiated a world-wide effort to collect amateur imagery of M51 taken from May 30 - June 2 to best constrain the explosion time of the massive star.

The supernova is known as "PTF 11eon" to the PTF team, but as SN2011dh to the larger world. A finder chart for it is shown below.

Click to enlarge the image.

Any amateur astronomers who have raw images of M51 taken between May 30 and June 2 are encouraged to contact the PTF team at this address: ptf11eon@gmail.com.

For more on the supernova, check out this article from Sky & Telescope or this one from Universe Today.

Breaking News - A Supernova in M51

2011-06-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Astronomers with the Palomar Transient Factory are reporting the discovery of a supernova in the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51).

It has been classified as a Type II supernova, which means that it is the result of the collapse and explosion of a massive star. The classification was performed using the Keck I telescope in Hawai'i. The magnitude of the star was estimated at 13.5, which makes it bright enough for amateur astronomers to see and image. It should be noted in the discovery report that the "exact magnitude uncertain due to saturation" - meaning that the supernova was too bright for astronomers to measure. Of course they were using one of the largest telescopes on the planet.

I am checking to see if there will be images to post, but in the meantime here is a shot of M51 taken well over a year ago by Palomar's 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope as a part of the Palomar Transient Factory Survey:

I am sure that there will be more news on this in the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned.

Memorial Day Tours on Palomar

2011-05-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

I don't know that you will be able to see flags and firetrucks, but it is Memorial Day weekend and we are celebrating by extending our public tours past the usual ones heldon Saturdays & Sundays to include Monday, May 30 as well. Tours will be at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tours are $8 per person. More information on the tours can be found here.

Milky Way Over Palomar

2011-05-28T08:23:00.001-07:00

Astronomer Iair Arcavi comes to Palomar Observatory to use the Hale Telescope to study supernovae as part of the Palomar Transient Factory survey. The survey is going quite well with over 1,110 supernovae discovered so far.

Iair also manages to find the time to do some nighttime photography with his digital SLR camera. I have posted some of his work here before (See his shot of the Milky Way over the Hale Telescope, his 2 Nights at the Palomar Observatory video and his composite of the Perseid meteor shower).

He managed to shoot some more dramatic images of our Palomar Skies just this last week. Both images nicely show off our domes, the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy and how light pollution is brightening our skies.

This image shows the dome that used to house the 18-inch Schmidt, Palomar's first telescope. The constellation of Scorpius can be seen just to the left of the dome. Note the bright sky glow to the southwest.

The 18-inch Schmidt is now retired but in its lifetime it was used for a tremendous amount of important work. For instance, just yesterday was the anniversary of that telescope being used to make the 1992 discovery of asteroid Braille (1992 KD). Astronomers Eleanor Helin and Kenneth Lawrence found the asteroid as a part of the Palomar Planet-Crossing Asteroid Survey. Just seven years later Braille was photographed as NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft flew past it.

Another of Iair's photos shows the Milky Way behind the dome of Palomar's automated 60-inch telescope. The 60-inch telescope is used nightly to perform follow-up observations on the new transient sources discovered through the Palomar Transient Factory survey. It also is a rapid-response telescope that gives astronomers a look at the optical glow of gamma-ray bursts.

An Update on Robo-AO

2011-05-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

Last week just about everything here on Palomar Skies was related to PALM-3000, the new upgrade to the Hale Telescope's adaptive-optics system. Readers of this blog may remember that PALM-3000 isn't the only game in town when it comes to adaptive optics on Palomar.

The other program that is pushing the envelope is Robo-AO, a laser-guide star adaptive-optics system for Palomar's automated 60-inch telescope. The Robo-AO team was on the mountain last week and Christoph Baranec, Principal Investigator for the program snapped these false-colors photos of their ultraviolet laser propagating out of the dome.

The laser makes use of Rayleigh scattering, which will ultimately help their system to correct for turbulence in the lower 10 kilometers (~6 miles) of the atmosphere. This will allow the 60-inch telescope to take very sharp images of a wide variety of astronomical objects.

(See that sort of blurry star trail, just to the right of the laser beam? That is the globular star cluster known as Omega Centauri.)

The Robo-AO program is still in the engineering phase. Expect a full science demonstration observing run to take place later this year.

Zooming in on PALM-3000

2011-05-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Here are three photos that show off the PALM-3000 adaptive-optics system.

The first is a wide shot of the 200-inch Hale Telescope:

In this view the only easily noticeable changes to the telescope are the hoses and cables hanging from the telescope's south side. The instrument itself is housed in the telescope's Cassegrain cage and can be seen in this wide-angle photo:

The photo gives a feel for some of the complexity of the system through the number of cables visible, but there is much more that the image does not capture. At the heart of the system is the new 3388 actuator higher order deformable mirror. Here you can see the back end of it here:

The weather has not been favorable for the first two nights of commissioning the instrument. The forecast for tonight looks good. Let's hope that the weather cooperates as tonight is the third and final night for this observing run. On Saturday the instrument comes off the telescope until their next observing run in June.

North County News Visits Palomar Observatory

2011-05-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

On Saturdays & Sundays guided tours of the Hale Telescope take place 3 times daily. North County News was up recently to see the action. Here is their video:

The public tours do not go into the control room, but they do get rave reviews. If you are going to be in the area, why come on over for a visit?

Another Look at Installing PALM-3000

2011-05-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

Here is another time-lapse movie of yesterday's installation of the PALM-3000 adaptive optics system onto the 200-inch Hale Telescope. This is shorter, covers less time, but is closer to the action as was shot with a digital SLR from on the observing floor.

Installing PALM-3000

2011-05-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, the new upgrade to our adaptive-optics system, the PALM-3000, was first installed on the Hale Telescope. The webcam in the dome of the 200-inch telescope is currently offline to the outside world (sorry about that), but we were able to use it to capture images of the work taking place.

Here is almost 12 hours of work, compressed into just under 4 minutes

How did the first night go? Fog and drizzle kept the dome from opening. Thankfully, the weather is improving as the team has two more nights on this observing run, before the the instrument is used again in June.

More pictures and another video will follow as soon as things get put together.

Shield Your Outdoor Lights

2011-05-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a short video on the importance of shielding outdoor lighting:

The great thing about shielding outdoor lighting as shown in the video is that more light is directed where it is actually needed. Instead of causing glare or shining upward into the sky the light source does not need to be as bright. This means that a lower wattage lighting fixture can be used which will save money.

In spite of the logic behind using fully-shielded lighting, lights like the ones shown below continue to be installed across the country.

Palomar Observatory - A Timescape

2011-05-17T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend astronomer Roger Griffith was using the 200-inch Hale Telescope to hunt for cold brown dwarfs. His observations were made to follow-up on data collected with the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer mission. In addition to his time on the telescope, Roger managed to dash out to continue work on a video of time-lapse photography that he had begun shooting at Palomar during one of his observing runs last year.

Here is the result:

Palomar Observatory - A Timescape from Roger Griffith on Vimeo.

Glider Over Palomar

2011-05-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

On a warm day it is not unusual to see a glider spiraling over Palomar Mountain. Occasionally they come close enough to the observatory that you can actually hear them.

We had gliders out last Saturday when Brad Eells of the Forest Fire Lookout Association took this photo:

Brad took this unique photo from the old fire lookout tower at High Point, which looks down on the observatory. To the left of the glider are the domes of the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope and the much larger 200-inch Hale Telescope. To the right of the glider is the dome of the 24-inch telescope and the observatory's water tower.

For another shot of a glider over the observatory, check out this post from 2009.

I know that blog posts here have been rare lately, that is starting to change as I have plenty of material to share. Be sure to check back for more this week.

Coming Soon: PALM-3000

2011-05-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

Much of the behind-the-scenes work at Palomar Observatory lately has been directed toward supporting the upgrades for our new adaptive optics-system, known as PALM-3000. When fully functional, the system is expected to be the first of its kind and allow ground-based astronomers to get their clearest view yet in the visible portion of the spectrum (all other systems currently operate in the near infrared portion of the spectrum).

We had the final components for the system delivered to the dome of the Hale Telescope today.

These may look like just a bunch of crates, but inside are the final components that will be installed to bring this system alive.

More on this amazing system, which is expected to achieve "first light" later this month, will be posted here over the next few weeks, but in the meantime feel free to read this article on the systems new deformable mirror.

Catwalk Panorama

2011-05-02T18:51:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this panorama will show up on all Web browsers. It is an interactive Photosnyth panorama shot a few minutes ago from the catwalk of the 200-inch Hale Telescope. In it you can see the observatory's water tower, the dome of the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope and the dome of the 18-inch Schmidt telescope.

Here is a direct link to the panorama. I hope to shoot more of these in the near future to give people a sense of what it is like to be at Palomar Observatory.

My Favorite 20-ton Piece of Glass

2011-04-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

The folks over at the Corning Museum of Glass are asking people to vote for their favorite piece of glass in their collection. Can you guess which one happens to be my favorite?*

Here is a video that they produced that explains it:

Here is a direct link to the video on YouTube.

Last March Robert Cassetti, who is seen in the video, happened to give me a wonderful tour of the fabulous glass collection at the museum. If you are at all interested in unique and amazing glass artistry I encourage you to explore all 60 pieces that are highlighted for the museum's 6oth anniversary.

*By the way, the 200-inch mirror that is actually in service at Palomar is my favorite piece of glass. However, it is not on display, nor does it weigh 20 tons.

Dome Shadow

2011-04-22T13:30:00.000-07:00

Here is the shadow of the dome of the Hale Telescope as it looked late yesterday afternoon. The dome of the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope can be seen to the left of the shadow.

Robo-AO is Moving Forward

2011-04-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

The Robo-AO team is back on Palomar for another week of testing new equipment on our 60-inch telescope. I have blogged about Robo-AO before, but for those who don't know, the Robo-AO system will soon be the world’s first laser-guide star adaptive-optics system working on a robotic telescope. When it is in operation it should deliver ultra-sharp imaging for up to hundreds of targets per night.

The system began as a fully-working testbed has been operating at Caltech in the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics basement for several months. Starting last fall the team has been given some engineering time every few months to gradually bring the system up and on the Palomar 60-inch telescope.

In September of last year they had their first propagation of their ultraviolet (UV) laser into the sky as a guide star for adaptive optics. Earlier this year they were able to successfully have the beam sent up the telescope's axis and measure the return.

The team is back at Palomar this week for the installation of new equipment and further testing.

In the image above notice the new electronics rack mounted on the telescope at right. In the center is part of their new adaptive-optics instrument and the black box at left is the laser.

Their are still additional components to integrate into the system, but it is expected that start of the science demonstration period will commence in late summer.

Corning Talk Now Online

2011-04-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

For any who might be interested, the talk I gave last month at the Corning Museum of Glass is now posted to their website as an MP4 video file (779 Mb) and as an audio-only MP3 file (68 Mb). FYI, it runs about 50 minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

Tonight's Atlas V Launch

2011-04-14T22:01:00.001-07:00

Palomar Observatory is a great place to study the universe. It is also occasionally a very nice place to watch rocket launches. Tonight it is well suited for both as the skies are clear, the seeing is quite good and the USAF launched an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base.

This picture shows the rocket crossing just above Orion's Belt.

This photo shows a staging event a little later. Both images were 30-second exposures taken with an Canon 5D and a 17mm lens.

The Edge of Night

2011-04-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Here is how the dome and the Moon looked just after sunset.

It looks like we will have a good night tonight as the Hale Telescope is used to study quasars.

No Tours This Coming Sunday

2011-04-13T10:10:00.000-07:00

Alas, we will be unable to offer our guided tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope on Sunday, April 17.

Tours for Saturday, April 16 (held at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. & 2:30 p.m.) will be held as scheduled. More information on our program of public tours can be found here on the observatory's website.

Another Palomar Panorama

2011-04-12T09:23:00.001-07:00

Here is a view of the dome of the Hale Telescope that was taken yesterday morning from up on the observatory's water tower.

The photo was taken by observatory employee Scott Calman. It is part of a panorama that captures one other Palomar dome and much of the surrounding landscape.

You can find the panorama here. The dome of the 200-inch telescope is at left (looking southwest). To its right is the dome of the 24-inch telescope and the observatory's visitor center/museum (looking due west). Near the far right are the snow-capped peaks of San Gorgonio and San Jacinto to the northeast.

I have posted Palomar panoramas before, but it is always time for another one that captures the view from a different perspective.

Observatory Open

2011-04-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didn't get this posted earlier, but the observatory is open to the public again and back on its regular non-winter visiting hours where we are open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Observatory Closed

2011-04-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

Winter weather conditions will keep Palomar Observatory closed to the public today through this weekend.

A Visit to Corning, NY

2011-04-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

I gave an invited talk about Palomar Observatory to an audience at the Corning Museum of Glass. It was an important presentation for me as Corning is the birthplace of Palomar's 200-inch mirror. I had the chance to fill everyone in on what the astronomers have been doing with it over the years. I was happy that there was a nice crowd for the talk and that they asked me many follow-up questions. I even got a positive review in the Corning newspaper. More importantly I had the chance to meet some great people, look through some historical archives and explore the fabulous collection in the museum.

It should be no secret that my favorite piece in the Corning Museum of Glass is the first disc that was cast for the 200-inch telescope. The casting ultimately turned out to be a failure (read about it here), but it became the first piece in what is now a world-famous collection of glass.

Here is a short video that I shot showing the 20-ton failed disc:

Here is a link to the video on YouTube.

I also had the chance to finally meet glass artist Mark Peiser. Mark has created a series of pieces inspired by the 200-inch mirror for the Hale Telescope. (You can read some earlier posts about Mark's work here and here).

Here I am with Mark in the Rakow Research Library. One of Mark's pieces, seen between us, from his "Palomar Series" is on display as a part of the Mirror to Discovery exhibit at the Rakow. Mark recently sent me some photos of some of his newer pieces in his Palomar Series. I will likely make another post on them in (hopefully) the near future, but here is a preview showing one called "Palomar Rising":

I also had the honor of meeting some of the family of Dr. George V. McCauley, the man from Corning Glass Works who was in charge of creating the glass giant.

That's me with Dr. McCauley's daughter, Anne Price and her son Rick and his wife Sheila. Behind us is a portion of the Mirror to Discovery exhibit in the Rakow Research Library. In the glass case are some cool Palomar/Corning artifacts including this unassuming gem:

It is the drawing board that Dr. McCauley used to design the 200-inch mirror. For a nice look at his design visit this page from the Corning Museum of Glass and look for the image "Plan View and Cross Section of Mirror" and you'll find out a surprise about the 200-inch.

One final thing about the Mirror to Discovery exhibit in the Rakow Research Library, the staff there developed some trading cards for the kids that take a tour through the exhibit. They show the story of the making of the 200-inch mirror, the disc that is on display in the museum and even some astrophotos from Palomar. It is a nice set of cards and I couldn't resist taking a picture of them here at Palomar with the Hale Telescope in the background.

In case you were wondering, the 200-inch mirror is enclosed in the steel ring with the black circles.

Finally, I would like to extend my personal thanks to everyone at the Rakow Library and the Corning Museum of Glass for making this such wonderful visit. It was an honor for me to be able to represent the observatory at the birthplace of the Hale Telescope's mirror.

Hale Telescope Guided Tours Return This Weekend!

2011-03-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Can you spot the people on the catwalk? Click the image to enlarge.
Read on to see how you can get there too.

Guided tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope return this weekend. The hour-long tours are given on Saturdays and Sundays from April through October at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tickets are sold in the Palomar Observatory Gift Shop on a first-come, first-served basis.

The tours explain how the telescope works, its history, research and (weather permitting) includes a visit to the outside catwalk. More details on the tours can be found here.

Now Open Until . . .

2011-03-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, the observatory is back open to the public and we have returned to our non-winter hours - meaning that we are now open daily from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

I had an amazing time in Corning, NY. I will be posting about that soon.

Still Closed

2011-03-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, Palomar Observatory is still closed to the public due today.

I will be traveling for the next several days and may not be able to update the blog. Don't forget that you can check to see if the observatory is open or not by calling (760) 742-2119.

Observatory Closed due to Snow

2011-03-21T10:03:00.001-07:00

The calendar says spring, but winter weather conditions will keep Palomar Observatory closed to the public today.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Molten Glass

2011-03-18T17:51:00.001-07:00

This dramatic photo expertly captured the drama as on March 25, 1934 men working with molten Pyrex glass were pouring what was then the biggest mirror ever made. This casting was unsuccessful, but a second attempt to pour the 200-inch Pyrex disc was successfully completed December 2, 1934.

Speaking at Corning

2011-03-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

In just two weeks I will be giving a talk at the Corning Museum of Glass, the birthplace of Palomar's 200-inch mirror.

I am looking forward to having the opportunity to see their new Mirror to Discovery exhibit and to visit again with the first, failed disc that was cast for Palomar.

The talk will not be on the history of the creation of the glass giant, nor on the construction of the 200-inch telescope or the 1000-ton dome that houses it. Instead, the talk will focus on what the astronomers at Palomar have done and are doing with the giant telescope that was made possible by Corning Glass Works.

I am told that the talk will also be available on line. I will post details of how to catch it as soon as they come in.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Corning Glass Works

2011-03-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

March is a good time to celebrate the contribution that Corning Glass Works made in creating Palomar Observatory's 200-inch mirror. 77 years ago this month they made their first attempt at casting the 200-inch. It was unsuccessful, but you can check out a previous post on it here.

If you get the chance you really should see the first disc, which is on display at the Corning Museum of Glass. You can also check out their Mirror to Discovery exhibit, at which can be seen until the end of October in their Rakow Library.

Our "photo" this week is a detailed drawing of Corning's factory as it was set up for casting the 20-ton disc. Click on the image or this link to see a huge and richly detailed version of the drawing from the June 1934 issue of Popular Science Monthly.

This month also marks the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the trip westward for their second, successful disc. I will be posting other images this month that fit with both anniversaries.

Another Day. Another Sunset.

2011-03-05T18:11:00.000-08:00

Here is tonight's sunset from two vantage points. Looking toward the west:

and the light of the sunset illuminating the dome of the Hale Telescope:

As the Sun goes down everyone inside the dome is just getting started for 11 hours or so of work.

Hale Telescope Sunset - March 4, 2011

2011-03-04T18:05:00.000-08:00

Here is tonight's sunset from the catwalk of the dome of the 200-inch Hale Telescope:

Open

2011-03-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

The word is that Palomar Observatory will be open today for our regular daytime visiting hours.

Observatory Closed

2011-03-01T09:47:00.001-08:00

Yup, we got dumped on with snow last weekend and are currently closed to the public.

Major Winter Storm Headed Toward Palomar

2011-02-25T09:28:00.000-08:00

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for Palomar Mountain from 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning until 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning. As such Palomar Observatory will be closed for at least this weekend.

Anyone considering travel to the mountains of southern California this weekend should carefully consider (or maybe reconsider) their plans. From the winter storm warning:

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE
WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT
AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS.
ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. SNOW...BLOWING SNOW...AND DENSE FOG
WILL CAUSE LOCAL VISIBILITY NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. TRAVELERS
THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR HAZARDOUS WINTER
WEATHER CONDITIONS. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO CHECK THE LATEST ROAD
REPORTS BEFORE DEPARTING. ALWAYS CARRY CHAINS AND TAKE EXTRA
FOOD AND CLOTHING IF YOU MUST TRAVEL INTO THE MOUNTAINS.
SNOWFALL WILL IMPACT TRAVEL ON INTERSTATE 8 THROUGH THE SAN
DIEGO COUNTY MOUNTAINS. THIS WEATHER COULD BE DEADLY FOR
UNPREPARED CAMPERS OR HIKERS.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Plowing Snow

2011-02-23T16:14:00.000-08:00

More winter weather is due on Palomar Mountain this weekend and I am overdue in posting a History Photo of the Week, so let's combine the two with this photo:

It was taken February 9, 1939 by Lee A. Farnsworth, Jr as he took a break from plowing snow to capture his tractor with the dome of the 200-inch telescope in the background.

From the looks of the current National Weather Service forecast for Palomar Mountain, it is likely that history will repeat itself with snow plows again being called into action at the observatory this weekend. If that is the case, it is a good bet that the observatory will be closed to the public for the coming weekend (Feb 26 & 27).

Observatory Open

2011-02-23T12:32:00.000-08:00

More winter weather may be bearing down on us this weekend, but the observatory is open to the public again today.

A Heavier Hale

2011-02-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

The Hale Telescope is about 1 ton heavier today than it was yesterday. Extra weight was added to the top end to help it achieve balance when the new PALM-3000 adaptive optics system is installed in about 1 month.

This afternoon it was put through the paces with some extreme pointing to help make sure that it smoothly handles the extra weight. Early indications are that all is well. Here is a photo from today during the pointing exercise:

PALM-3000 will not be on the telescope all the time, so to compensate extra weight was also added to the Cassegrain cage. The weights are then removed when the PALM-3000 is not on the telescope.

PALM-3000 should allow the Hale Telescope to take the sharpest visible-light images of any telescope. Look for more posts on this in the future.

Still Closed

2011-02-21T12:03:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to let people know that the observatory is still closed to the public. Look here for an update saying that we are back open.

Shoveling Snow off of the Dome - Part 2

2011-02-20T17:08:00.000-08:00

Some of you may remember my Shoveling Snow from the Dome post from April of last year. If not, feel free to follow the link to see some telephoto pictures of some of the Palomar crew shoveling snow off of the slit of the dome of the Hale Telescope.

F0r the last several months I have been cast in to a role that is more involved with the nightly operation of the telescope (that's why the number of blog posts have dropped dramatically) and today I had my first opportunity to shovel snow off of the top of the dome. I was able to bring a camera with me and can share some pics of from the experience.

The basic problem is this. If you open the dome with snow on the top, snow will fall in on the telescope and instrumentation. So a small crew, each secured with a safety harness, is sent up to remove the snow from the dome slit.

Here is a view of the top of the dome before any work was begun:

Here is a view of the work as it was nearing completion:

Notice that there is still quite a bit of snow on the dome, but the area that poses the greatest potential risk to the telescope has been pretty much cleared.

Here I am on top of the world:

Joining me on this quest was Greg:

Trust me, 135-feet would be a long way to fall, so having the safety harness secured is very important.

It is important to tune out the view, because it is so amazing, but I did manage to snap a few quick shots:

The photo above is looking roughly southward. You can see the little dome of the 18-inch Schmidt (center) and the much bigger (but much farther away) dome for the 60-inch telescope (right). You can also see the snow-filled Mendenhall Valley and the Crestline/Birch Hill ridge of Palomar Mountain (behind the 60-inch telescope at right).

This view is looking toward High Point. If you click to embiggen the photo you can easily see the High Point lookout tower. In the center is the dome of the 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope. To the left is the observatory's 1,000,000-gallon water tank and the water tower.

Finally, check out this short video that I took of the view:

At Palomar Observatory every day is an adventure.

Observatory Closed

2011-02-19T08:15:00.000-08:00

Palomar Observatory will be closed to the public today & Sunday due to winter weather conditions.

Globe At Night Returns

2011-02-18T14:16:00.000-08:00

The 6th annual Globe At Night campaign to measure sky brightness around the world is about to begin.
From February 21st to March 6th you'll have the opportunity to measure sky brightness by counting the number of stars visible in the constellation of Orion. It is easy, fun & very worthwhile. So click on over and become a citizen scientist by measuring sky brightness where you live.

Winter Weather to Return this Week

2011-02-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

It is time again to roll out the old photo of the dome and the weather gear to let people know that some rough weather is expected to head our way that will likely close the observatory to visitors in the coming days.

Rain, fog, wind, & snow are all in the forecast between tonight and Sunday night. In the coming days please pay close attention to weather forecasts (such as this Special Weather Statement issued by the National Weather Service) and any road or other closures before heading up to visit the observatory or the Palomar Mountain area.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Building a Dome

2011-02-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

Here is another photo taken in the 1940s by Lee A. Farnsworth, Jr. It shows the dome of Palomar's 48-inch Schmidt telescope (now called the Samuel Oschin Telescope) while it was under construction.

Good Times in Seattle

2011-02-05T13:04:00.000-08:00

Thanks go out to the Seattle Astronomical Society (SAS) for having me up to speak last weekend at their annual banquet.

I think it was the only talk that I have ever given that had boats parked just outside the venue. Possibly they were there for me to make a quick escape if needed.

Fortunately the boats were not needed. The SAS took good care of me and everyone seemed to have a good time. They even had this sweet (in more ways than one) Palomar cake:

You can read a review of my talk here on Greg Scheiderer's nice Seattle Astronomy blog. Thanks for the nice words, Greg!

Open Again

2011-02-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

Palomar Observatory is open again to the public with our regular 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. visiting hours.

Observatory Closed January 31st

2011-01-31T09:40:00.000-08:00

I just found out that Palomar Observatory is closed to the public today.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Sitting Down on the Job

2011-01-24T01:02:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted photos of the mirror cell for the 200-inch telescope as it arrived in California via ship. This week's photo was taken January 27, 1936 - two weeks after its arrival.

It shows the mirror cell sitting on the mirror's grinding machine with a member of the optical shop posed sitting with his legs in the center hole. Note that there are three other people in the photo working on the rail to the upper right of the mirror cell. Unlike the man posed on the cell, they were working look blurry - a result of the slow films in use back then.

Robo-AO in Action

2011-01-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

I am hearing that the Robo-AO team has had a good week of testing here on the Palomar 60-inch telescope.

Their ultraviolet (UV) laser is mounted on the south side of the telescope. One of the chief issues for the week was the installation and testing of their periscope which transfers the laser beam from being just offset from where the telescope is pointing to being on axis with the telescope.

If you look at the photo below you can see the location of the laser, which is located in the black box just under the telescope on the right side. From this position the laser will propagate to the upper left where their periscope assembly is located. You can see that as the black end of the telescope with something hanging off of it.

The second photo shows the whole set up from a different perspective. Note that the cover to the laser has been removed. Click on the image to get a better look at its innards.

Photo by Christoph Baranec

The third photo shows the periscope assembly from a different vantage point. Christoph Baranec (Robo-AO's principal investigator) can be seen adjusting a mirror. In this image the UV laser is on. UV light is invisible, but still potentially damaging so you'll notice that Christoph is wearing a face shield to protect his eyes (I was wearing one too when I took this photo). Also notice that the mirror on the center axis of the telescope is fluorescing due to the UV light shining on it.

Saving the best for last, this final photo shows the top of the telescope. It was taken with a camera that records UV and visible light, so it reveals both the telescope and the normally invisible UV laser beam.

Photo by Christoph Baranec

The team has also been evaluating any flexure in the telescope and laser pointing to better ensure better results in the future.

Stay tuned for more on the Robo-AO program. Their next observing run will be in March.

Robo-AO Returns to Palomar

2011-01-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

This week the Robo-AO team is back on Palomar for some tests of their laser-guide star adaptive optics system for our 60-inch telescope.

I will post some updates and shots of the laser in action over the next week or so, but here is a shot looking at the back end of the telescope showing some of the equipment that is in use for the project:

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Building the Horseshoe

2011-01-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

On January 17, 1939, seventy two years ago today, the last of the three big pieces of the 200-inch telescope's north horseshoe bearing was lifted into place. The bearing is a key component the 530-ton telescope, allowing it to pivot to look east or west. The horseshoe bearing floats on a thin film of pressurized oil and helps to support the weight of the telescope.

These photos were taken from the dome's inside catwalk by Lee A. Farnsworth, Jr. who worked at the observatory during construction of The Big Eye.

The first picture captured the view from just southwest of the telescope looking northeast toward the horseshoe. The east horn of the horseshoe is easily visible on the right.

The second photo shows the west horn of the horseshoe as it is being lifted by the crane at the top of the dome. The

The final shot shows the west horn of the horseshoe being lifted into position. Note the person in the photo. The fully assembled bearing is 46 feet across would still need to have its pieces welded together to become functional.

The successful welding of the horseshoe marked the completion of the telescope's mounting structure. In the months that followed the Palomar crew would move on to assemble the 200-inch telescope.

Night Lights

2011-01-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

Here is something you don't see very often. The lights on inside the dome of the Hale Telescope at night.

I have always liked this shot because of the mix between moonlight (illuminating the dome), starlight (can you spot Orion and Taurus?) and the interior lights. It is the only photo that I have taken ever to appear on the cover of a phone book

This picture was taken in the fall of 2004 during some engineering time. The lights were on while some new equipment was being prepared for use later that night.

I have uploaded this photo at a higher resolution than I normally do. Click on the image to see it in a much larger size.

Top Honors for Astronomer Richard Ellis

2011-01-15T08:02:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Richard Ellis, Steele Professor of Astronomy at Caltech and former Palomar Observatory director, who was just chosen by the Royal Astronomical Society's highest honor -- their Gold Medal.

From Royal Astronomical Society's citation:

... in recognition of his outstanding personal research and leadership in astronomy that make him one of the most influential British astronomers of the last three decades.

During his career, Richard Ellis has played a key role in cosmology and astronomical instrumentation. In the 1990s he used the Hubble Space Telescope to solve the 'faint blue galaxy' problem, identifying the transformation of irregular galaxies into more quiescent systems. Since then he has made major progress in understanding why galaxies are grouped into the 'Hubble sequence' and in recent years has used gravitational lensing to find some of the most distant objects in the universe, with redshifts from 6 to 10.

Prior to Caltech, Richard held posts including Director of the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge and Professor of Astronomy at Durham University. During this time he led the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS), the first large-scale (and highly
successful) cosmology project. Subsequently he has gone on to lead a team proposing a wide-field spectrograph for the Subaru telescope on Hawaii that would be the natural successor to 2dFGRS and is playing a key role in the efforts to build a 30-m telescope.

Richard is the co-author of 340 refereed papers receiving more than 41000 citations, with three of his papers each having more than 1000 citations, giving him a publication record of immense stature. With all-round vision, science leadership and a rich legacy of contributions to cosmology, he is a very worthy recipient of the Gold Medal.

Mountain Medical Aid

2011-01-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

We would like to thank the members of the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department and other rescue workers who responded to a medical aid call at the Observatory yesterday.

Not being able to help, at least I was able to capture some pictures of firetrucks with the dome of the Hale Telescope.

Mercy Air was called in to get the patient to the hospital quickly, that gave me a chance to catch the helicopter, Hale Telescope dome and a halo around the sun all in one shot.

We certainly hope for a speedy recovery for the patient and are glad to have such fine help close at hand.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - Our Ship Comes In

2011-01-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

Let's try to catch up on our History Photo of the Week by posting a few shots from January 13, 1936 when our ship came in.

Here is the Nevadan with a tug boat bringing it into the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California:

On board in a cargo hold is a delivery from Baldwin-Southwark Corp in Eddystone, Pennsylvania of an item made by Babcock & Wilcox Company.

The big round crate contains what will be the mirror cell for the 200-inch mirror. Just to give you a sense of scale you can see a portion of two cars in the hold on the left.

It was removed from the ship and lifted on to a trailer for transportation to Caltech:

Here is the arrival of the trailer as it is backed in from California Boulevard and into the optical shop at Caltech:

Palomar Sunset - January 7, 2011

2011-01-07T17:52:00.000-08:00

Tonight's sunset from the catwalk of the 200-inch Hale Telescope:

Click to embiggen to make it easier to spy the crescent moon at the top of the picture.

Observatory Open

2011-01-07T10:00:00.000-08:00

The headline says it all. We are now back on our normal winter visiting hours of being open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily.

See "Acquainted with the Night" in Palm Springs Next Week

2011-01-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

A new documentary film, Acquainted with the Night, will be playing at the Palm Springs International Film Festival next week.

According to Michael McNamara, the film's director "The documentary examines night time around the world, and features amazing photography of night phenomena, time lapse photography and Aurora Borealis, and also looks at the consequences and effects of light pollution."

It is not as yet scheduled to be broadcast on U.S. TV so catching it at the film festival may be your only chance to see it for a while. It will be showing:

Tuesday January 11, 12.00pm -- Annenberg Auditorium

Thursday January 13, 12:00pm -- Camelot Theatres

Saturday January 15, 4:00pm -- Palm Canyon Theatre

Check out the trailer below:

You can also watch it directly here on YouTube.

Wednesday: Still Closed

2011-01-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

The latest word is that there is some snow/ice lodged on the upper part of the dome of the 200-inch telescope in a place that can't easily be cleared. Since falling snow/ice poses a potential danger to visitors the observatory will be closed until it looks safe.

It is hoped that some direct sunlight today will help to clear the problem.

Out Giving Talks & A New Exhibit

2011-01-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

Here are two pieces of news that are not for those local to Southern California.

Later this month I will be speaking about current research taking place at Palomar Observatory at the Seattle Astronomical Society's annual banquet. The talk will be on Sunday, January 30 and the details are on their website.

On Monday, January 10 the Rakow Research Library at the Corning Museum of Glass will be opening a new exhibit: Mirror to Discovery The 200-inch Disk and the Hale Reflecting Telescope at Palomar. The exhibit runs until October 30, 2011 - so there is plenty of time to plan your trip to see it. I will be heading to Corning, NY to see the exhibit as I am giving an invited talk there about Palomar Observatory on March 24. The date is one day short of the 77th anniversary of the casting of the first, failed, 200-inch disk. This gigantic piece of glass became the centerpiece for the museum and it still on display.

Hopefully some of the people who follow this blog, but are far from Palomar Observatory will be able to attend.

Sorry, We're Closed

2011-01-04T09:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are still closed to the public.

Remember you can check on the observatory's status by calling our Public Information Recording: (760) 742-2119.

Still Closed

2011-01-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Icy conditions persist at Palomar Observatory and in many places on the roads in the area. As a result the observatory remains closed to the public today.

2011

2011-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year. May you all have clear dark skies in the coming year.

Ice = Still Closed

2010-12-30T12:02:00.000-08:00

Temperatures dropped into the teens last night on Palomar Mountain and there is a substantial coating of ice on the roadways and observatory grounds. As a result, we remain closed to the public today.

Observatory Closed Today Due to Winter Weather

2010-12-29T11:30:00.000-08:00

A mix of snow, rain, fog & wind is producing potentially dangerous travel conditions on Palomar Mountain today. As a result the observatory is closed to the public today.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - South Yoke

2010-12-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

For anyone out there that may have notice the huge drop in the number of blog posts here in teh last two months, other duties that have temporarily come my way over the last few months have dominated all of my time and have kept me from working much at all of my real job. Do not despair as more images, news and history will eventually be returning to Palomar Skies with the kind of frequency that was present in the past.

To help tide people over, here is another history photo showing the 200-inch telescope's south yoke.

The photo was taken in the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company's plant in South Philadelphia on December 20, 1937.

Roads & Holidays

2010-12-23T09:16:00.001-08:00

South and East Grade Roads are currently open and the severe weather has passed. You can always check to see it the observatory is open or not by calling our public information recording number (760) 742-2119.

Remember that Palomar Observatory is closed December 24 & 25.

Roads Closed

2010-12-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

Palomar Mountain has received more than 14 inches of rain in the last few days. At this moment both South Grade and East Grade Roads are closed due to rock and mud slides. With more weather expected, travel in the area is not recommended.

Asteroid 596 Scheila Becomes a Comet

2010-12-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend it was reported that main-belt asteroid 596 Scheila was experiencing a comet-like outburst. Solar system astronomers Michael Hicks and Kenneth Lawrence from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory happened to have observing time on Palomar’s 200-inch Hale Telescope last Saturday night and early Sunday morning they captured this image of "asteroid" 596 Scheila looking very much like a comet:

The two main ideas behind Scheila’s cometary outburst are that it is either a rare comet with an orbit inside the asteroid belt that started out gassing or that it has recently suffered a collision like the one in 2009 that befell an asteroid known as P/2010 A2.

Stay tuned.

Thanks to Mike & Ken for being kind enough to share this raw image of the event so soon after it was acquired!

For a related post see also, The Asteroid that Became a Comet and the Comet that Became an Asteroid.

Hale Halo

2010-12-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

From earlier this week:

Ice crystal clouds forming a halo behind the dome of the 200-inch Hale Telescope. The clouds parted enough to allow for over 12 hours of observing that night in the study of distant frozen worlds in outer solar system in a region known as the Kuiper Belt.

Astrophoto Friday - Eris Discovery

2010-12-03T08:36:00.001-08:00

Astrophoto Friday returns today with an animated gif of the discovery photos of dwarf planet Eris. Can you spot it?

Eris is the moving object near the left-hand side of the image.

The discovery of Eris was made by Caltech's Mike Brown and his partners. They first imaged this distant world of the Kuiper Belt using Palomar's 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope. The discovery rocked the astronomical world and helped to bump Pluto out of its planetary status. Both Pluto, Eris and some other worlds discovered by Mike at Palomar share a new category, that of dwarf planet.

The discovery and the turmoil that followed is the subject of a new book by Mike Brown which will be available on Tuesday, December 7 (both Gerard Kuiper’s birthday and Pearl Harbor day).

Of course, Palomar Observatory's gift shop will be stocking the book - which happens to make a great gift.

2 Short Mirror Wash Videos

2010-11-30T13:43:00.000-08:00

Here is a short video showing the 200-inch mirror as it looked just before it was washed nearly two weeks ago:

And another short clip showing the wash in progress:

I recorded a *much* longer video showing the entire wash. Hopefully, I'll get a time-compressed version of that posted soon.

Under the Big Eye

2010-11-23T02:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a rare view of the Hale Telescope that was taken during last week's mirror wash:

The photo was taken from under the telescope (with the camera on the observing floor) when the mirror was pulled out and the mirror cover partially open. On the left (south) is the coudé arch and on the right (north) is the horseshoe.

More photos from the mirror wash engineering run will be posted later in the week.

Black Friday Tours Return

2010-11-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

It is the holiday season and we are celebrating by offering special daytime tours of the 200-inch Hale Telescope on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Friday November 26.

Our regular public tours do not resume again until April, so this may be your last chance to get a guided tour of the Big Eye for some months.

Tour tickets will be sold in the gift shop the day of the tour on a first-come, first-served basis. No prior reservations are taken. Tour tickets are $8.00. The tours are not recommended for children under six years of age.

Do keep in mind that it is COLD inside the dome. Temperatures inside, where the hour-long tours take place, are expected to be around 40F. So bundle up!

Rough Weather for the Weekend

2010-11-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

Dense fog, high winds, heavy rain & snow are all in the forecast for Palomar Mountain this weekend. The National Weather Service has issued a Special Weather Statement.

Travel to Palomar Mountain is likely not a good idea for the weekend.

200" Mirror Wash - Update

2010-11-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

The washing of the 200-inch mirror was completed on Thursday and the Big Eye is now back in the telescope.

I took several hundred photos of the event and it will likely be sometime next week before the best of them are posted here. In the meantime, let me show you what it was all about with a before and after photo of our 14.5 ton glass mirror.

That is a dramatic difference and a job well done by the Palomar crew.

Mirror Wash 2010 - Day 1

2010-11-18T08:11:00.001-08:00

The engineering run to wash the 200-inch mirror is going well. Yesterday the mirror was successfully pulled from the telescope. Here are some photos from the first day of engineering.

The Hale Telescope with the Cassegrain instrument and Cassegrain cage removed.

A view of the mirror cell. The 36 mirror supports, serviced earlier this year, are visible.

The mirror cart under the Hale Telescope, ready to receive the 200-inch mirror.

The Palomar crew pushing the mirror cart, loaded with the 200-inch mirror, over to the washing area in the dome northwest of the telescope.

For more immediate updates & photos be sure to follow palomarskies on twitter and/or "like" Palomar Observatory on Facebook.

Watch the Webcam Today

2010-11-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a capture from the Hale Telescope webcam taken early this morning at the end of a long (12.8 hour) observing session.

Today should be an interesting day to watch the Hale Telescope webcam as we are pulling the 200-inch mirror out of the telescope today so that we may wash the mirror tomorrow.

I'll be posting pictures of the event as they come in.

Allan Sandage, 1926 - 2010

2010-11-16T12:26:00.000-08:00

Observational cosmologist Allan Sandage has passed away. In memory of his brilliant career our history photo of the week is 1950s photo of Dr. Sandage in front of the 200-inch Hale Telescope.
You can read summaries of his impressive career from Carnegie Observatories, Nature, Astronomy Now, and Sky & Telescope.

Hale Telescope Under Moonlight

2010-11-13T16:33:00.001-08:00

Here are two photos of the 200-inch Hale Telescope illuminated by moonlight. Both were taken on Friday November 12, 2010.

The Hale Telescope is used virtually every clear night of the year for astronomical research. The research mission on that particular night was imaging and spectroscopy of ultra luminous infrared galaxies discovered by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer mission.

Astrophoto Friday - the California Nebula

2010-11-12T13:58:00.000-08:00

This week Astrophoto Friday brings us the California Nebula.

The California Nebula (also known as NGC 1499) is an emission nebula consisting largely of ionized hydrogen gas. It was named for its resemblance to the state of California - home to the Palomar Observatory. The nebula is located approximately 1,000 light years from our solar system in the direction of the constellation of Perseus.

The bright blue star Xi Persei (to the right of the nebula) most likely is the source of illumination for the nebula.

This image is a composite from two black and white images taken with the Palomar Observatory's 48-inch (1.2-meter) Samuel Oschin Telescope as a part of the Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (POSS II). The images were recorded on two glass photographic plates - one sensitive to red light and the other to blue. The plates were scanned and color combined to produce the image seen here.

Palomar's Beautiful Universe

2010-11-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

You may remember Wally Pacholka's panorama of the Milky Way & the dome of the Hale Telescope. It was an Astrophoto Friday image here back in June.

The editors of Sky & Telescope have chosen to place a cropped version of Wally's picture on the cover of the 2011 edition of their Beautiful Universe publication.

You can buy it directly from S&T's online store and it should be in your local newsstands next week.