GLOBE At Night 2009

Hey, have I mentioned that it is the International Year of Astronomy? Ok, dozens of times. What have you done to celebrate? The best thing you can do is to get out under the stars and experience the universe for yourself.


One way to do that is to participate in the GLOBE at Night Program which takes place from March 16-28. By doing so you can help to promote Dark Skies Awareness, a cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009). In many communities the Globe at Night program is being capped with the World Wildlife Fund’s EarthHour event (www.earthhour.org), which encourages everyone to turn out their lights from 8:30-9:30 p.m. local time on the evening of Saturday, March 28, the final night of GLOBE at Night 2009.

Both activities are easy and fun.

The GLOBE at Night 2009 program is designed to aid teaching about the impact of artificial lighting on local environments, and the ongoing loss of a dark night sky as a natural resource for much of the world’s population. Connie Walker, Globe at Night's director, tells us that “we have now passed the point where more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, which are notorious for being excessively lit or badly lit by artificial lights,” and that “GLOBE at Night is an easy way for people around the world to connect with the increasingly accepted and powerful idea that good lighting saves money, it reduces greenhouse gases by lowering our use of electrical power, it is better for public safety, and it allows everyone to share the wonders of the night sky.”

Wow, you can save money, cut on greenhouse gases and enjoy the sky all at the same time.

The past three years of GLOBE at Night have drawn more than 20,000 measurements of the night sky from people in more than 100 countries, and from 49 U.S. states. For more information, and to learn how to make and report measurements, see www.globe.gov/GaN.

Don't despair if your March is too busy or cloudy for you to participate. You can always take part in The Great World Wide Star Count this October.

Dark-Skies Awareness is one of 11 global cornerstone projects being supported by the International Astronomical Union’s IYA2009 efforts. For more information on a variety of programs including the 3 star-hunting programs, a planetarium show, a presence in Second Life,
and joint programs with U.S. national parks, amateur astronomers and some of the greatest environmental photographers in the world, see www.darkskiesawareness.org.

To learn more about IYA2009 internationally, the cornerstone projects, and other activities please visit http://www.astronomy2009.org

Additional information on the U.S. plans and programs for IYA can be found at http://www.astronomy2009.us

IYA Celebration Tonight at Miracosta College!

Tonight Rica French and the good folks over at Mira Costa College are holding a neat (and free) event to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy. Caltech's Michelle Thaller of the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope will be there to give a talk and particpate in a cool image unveiling of spiral galaxy M 101. They will be showing off a six foot by three foot and a three foot by three foot images of the galaxy as captured by NASA's Great Observatories: the Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

A stargazing party will follow if the weather cooperates.

A flyer for the event is here.

Podcast on Sky Surveys

My latest podcast for the 365 Days of Astronomy is up. You can check it out from their site directly or download it via iTunes too.

Error Correction: For some reason in the podcast I said the QUEST camera was 196-Megapixels. It was really only 161-Megapixels. Sorry about that.
Here are some links to go with the show:
Palomar's Samuel Oschin Telescope - Where it all happens

Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey (aka POSS II) - some details on the second survey.

Google Sky & WorldWide Telescope - two ways to surf the sky from your desktop.

SkyFactory - home of some great images produced from the Second Palomar Sky Survey

High-Performance Wireless Research and Education Network - The high-speed network that allows astronomers to work remotely, far from Palomar.

Palomar-QUEST Survey - info on the survey completed last fall

Dwarf Planet Eris - Mike Brown's page on the world that "killed" Pluto

Glo-ing Words about Eleanor Helin

In my previous post, I mentioned that Eleanor "Glo" Helin has died. Here are some words from Shri Kulkarni, the director of Caltech Optical Observatories (which includes Palomar):

Dear Colleagues:

I learnt today that Eleanor [3267] "Glo" Helin passed away. Those who have been around or used Palomar Observatory since the seventies and until the mid nineties would have met Glo at Palomar. She was a tireless observer and passionate about asteroids (being responsible for the discovery nearly a thousand minor bodies). She was a big fan of Palomar Observatory and an ardent admirer of Caltech.

Her love for Caltech shows up in the names of many asteroids for scientists at Caltech, JPL and friends of Caltech. A selection follows:
3449 Abell (main belt)
3848 Neugebauer (main belt)
4103 Chahine (main belt)
4597 BruceMurray (amor)
5678 DuBridge
5870 Baltimore (Mars crossing)
8013 Gordon Moore (amor)

For more details about Glo please see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_F._Helin

Glo and her husband Ron Helin supported the Observatory financially (to which we are truly grateful).

Those of who you used to know Glo may wish to contact her son Bruce Helin (address in this link)

We at COO are planning a memorial symposium to commemorate Glo's enthusiasm and dedication to the study of asteroids and her love for Palomar. We will announce the details once our plans are clear.

Sincerely

Shri Kulkarni
Director, Caltech Optical Observatories

Eleanor "Glo" Helin Passes

Sadly, Planetary defense is reporting that astronomer Eleanor "Glo" Helin has passed away:

"Eleanor "Glo" Helin passed away in late January. She was one of the pioneers of the search for Near Earth objects (NEOs) and established and led the NEAT Project at JPL. The NEAT Program discovered hundreds of NEOs, many comets, and 64 Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). Glo is survived by her son. If you would like to send him a note or card, his address is: Bruce Helin, 210 E. Elm St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001."

Dr. Helin performed the bulk of her work at Palomar Observatory. I will post a tribute here in the future, but readers may now wish to read this 1998 profile of her over at Women In Technology International and her entry at Wikipedia.

Tour de Palomar - II

My view of the race today:

As I was serving with the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

Tour de Palomar

The 2009 Amgen Tour of California is in full swing and on Sunday February 22nd they will be cycling up and down Palomar Mountain as a part of the final stage of the race.

Here's the official profile of Sunday's "Stage 8" of the race. Yes, the vertical scale has been exaggerated.

Any and all visitors that are planing on coming to the observatory this weekend should expect crowds. Cycling enthusiasts are already descending upon the mountain. As of Thursday evening there were already people who had staked out camping spots (even where there isn't camping) on South Grade Road (aka S-6) and at the summit.

Thousands of people are expected to be on Palomar to watch the cyclists climb up South Grade Road, which happens to be the same road the 200-inch mirror came up in 1947. The road's 7% grade will be a challenge for the cyclists and, because they will be going slower, give fans a longer chance to watch them go by.

Visitors wishing to visit the Palomar Observatory will face multiple road closures on February 22nd. The Amgen Tour of California bike race will cause lengthy road closures on all of the roads leading to the area. It is estimated that South Grade Road (S-6) will be closed for six hours beginning at 9:00 a.m. East Grade Road (S-7) and Highway 76 will also face closures due to the event. Anyone wishing to see the Palomar Observatory, that is not already nearby to attend the event, are encouraged to find an alternate date to visit.

For those far away the event can be seen on TV and on the web at Amgen's site. I am not sure if I will see any of it, as I will be helping out the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

For those attending the race, we would like to remind everyone that there is no overnight parking in the observatory's parking lot.

The Show Must Go On

We certainly don't get any astronomy done when it snows. Once the weather clears the snow has to be shoveled off of the dome before it can be opened for a night of observing.

The work is difficult, cold and dangerous (they wear safety harnesses), but the view from the top of the dome is fantastic.

Here are two members of the Palomar day crew as they shoveled snow off of the dome following one of last week's snow storms. Thanks to our Palomar Observatory Superintendent for the photo.

200-inch in 3D (again)

I have been remiss by not posting any 3D shots since October. So grab your red-blue 3D glasses, click on the image of the Hale Telescope taken earlier today and enjoy.

Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics

I should have posted this earlier, but back in January the new Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics was dedicated on the Caltech campus. The LA Times reviews architecture (who knew?) and they have just reviewed the building. You can read and watch the review here.

The building has been LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. You can read more about the building and Caltech Astronomy here.