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Back online

We have likely been inaccessible for much of today — we had a Web server meltdown and had to perform some radical surgery.  All the site databases are back on line, but looking over the blog, it looks like we lost a few comments.   Regarding the most recent one about a bright event in the sky in March 1986, well, I was studying for finals in college and not looking at the sky, so I don’t know!  Most likely it was a bright meteor; they can even break up in flashy fashion if they incoming particle is big enough.  If some of anyone else’s comments got trashed in the rebuild, sorry about that; we’re not sure why they disappeared and we don’t see an easy way to get them back.  In any event, we’re alive and well again.

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Research blog

As noted in the blog post below this one, we’ve spun off our research notes and posts into a separate blog now that we are back actively observing with our new hardware.  If you’re interested in the sun and solar activity, I hope you’ll find this blog interesting.  Find it here.

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Observations begin anew!

After a 7-month hiatus during which we rebuilt our entire spectrograph system downstream of the cameras, we are again operational and observing the long-term behavior of the Sun and its closest stellar cousins.

In January 2008, the old camera electronics on the Solar-Stellar Spectrograph died after 17 years of hard service.  Fortunately, we had budgeted in our new grant to replace the cameras and control computer anyway, and funding for that grant, provided by the National Science Foundation, also began in January.  Since then, we have planned our new system, ordered cameras, had them delivered, rebuilt the whole system downstream of the focusing lenses, troubleshot things, and integrated the new data format into our software…and this week, we began observations of the Sun and stars once again. Not a moment too soon, either, as solar cycle 24 slowly lurches into gear. This success came about primarily thanks to a lot of hard work by Lowell Director of Technical Services Ralph Nye, who put in many hours getting us reassembled, with additional help on the optical setup by Instrument Scientist Ted Dunham.  Kudos and many thanks to both of them!

In one of the upgrade’s most dramatic moments, Ralph got this picture of Wes Lockwood and me getting ready to fire up the system and take the first new spectrum this past Wednesday.  Everything worked perfectly, and we are now getting ready for a 17-night observing run in August to catch up on all our favorite stars.

At left is a picture only an astronomer could love: a data frame with our spiffy new spectrum of the Sun, taken earlier today. By analyzing the amount of light in the dark spectral lines you can see throughout the image (they’re the little back lines cutting through the bright white swaths of the spectrum), we can quantify the activity level of the Sun and stars (among many other things), and compare the behavior of Sun-like stars to that of the Sun itself. The stars, in effect, give us a window into the Sun’s past, including interesting periods like the Maunder Minimum.

You can read all about the SSS program at our Web site. We’re also going to move our research posts to a separate blog over at that site, retaining the main Lowell blog for general Observatory news. Stay tuned for the new blog next week sometime.

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What Scientists Actually Do

On August 3, scientist and author Joan Horvath will highlight an evening of activities at Lowell as part of the Dog Days Star Fest. At 7 PM, Horvath will give a fun presentation about her new book, What Scientists Actually Do (pictured here).

“With the passionate, conversational tone of a knowledgeable and fun-loving good friend over coffee, rocket scientist Joan Horvath describes what scientists, engineers and mathematicians do and why they do it.”

After the program, Horvath will sign copies of her book. In addition to this presentation that will be great for the whole family, numerous telescopes will be set up throughout the Lowell campus (weather permitting) and other indoor activities will be available. Hours for this special evening are 5:30 PM - 10 PM. Regular admission rates apply ($6 per adult, $3 per youth ages 5-17, $5 per senior/AAA/college student; members are admitted free.)

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DCT Secondary Mirror

Here are some recent pictures of the secondary mirror for the Discovery Channel Telescope at Lowell Observatory. The mirror is currently at Optical Surface Technologies in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are in the process of a preliminary polish prior to shipping the mirror to another facility for lightweighting.

The 1.4-meter secondary mirror blank was fabricated by Corning, Inc. and is made of fused silica. In the second picture, the mirror has been cleaned off, showing the polished surface.

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The Wall Street Journal and Dark Skies

In Friday’s (July 25) edition of The Wall Street Journal, “Science Journal” columnist Robert Lee Hotz concisely covers the variety of benefits of directing nighttime lighting down, where it is needed, rather than casting light upward, where it is not needed.  The article “It’s All About the Lighting” is accessible online, and includes a discussion forum  where readers can leave comments.  I was pleased to see mention, though brief, of Flagstaff, Ariz. in the second to last paragraph.

It is encouraging to see a topic that we’ve discussed at a statewide level (see the guest editorial in the Arizona Republic by Lowell Observatory Director Bob Millis), receive a worldwide audience through The Wall Street Journal. 

Posted in General, Lowell in the News, Stargazing | No Comments »

Flagstaff — Get Celestial with Sunset Magazine

Get ahold of a copy of the August issue of Sunset, Living in the West! In there is a sidebar story on pg. 36 about Lowell Observatory. Under a dramatic photo of one of Lowell’s Anderson Mesa research telescopes, the 42″ John Hall Telescope, taken by Tony Hallas, the article says:

…Go celebrate at Lowell, one of the best places in the nation to enjoy the night sky. Visit on August 11 for the famous Perseid meteor shower; you’ll lose count of the shooting stars. And you can get stellar views of the cosmos anytime through Lowell’s 24-inch-diameter telescope.

Many thanks to Jessica Stephens at the City of Flagstaff’s Convention and Visitors Bureau for this successful pitch of a story idea to Sunset and also to all the talented Sunset staff who worked on the mini feature.

Posted in Lowell in the News, Lowell outreach, Pluto, Stargazing | No Comments »

Who Stole the Night Sky?

Discovery Space, Discovery’s new website strikes again! The lead story on the site is, Who Stole the Night Sky? by Bob Millis, Lowell Observatory’s Director. Actually, it’s an op-ed and here’s an excerpt:

If Arizona, for example, were to adopt statewide the lighting practices required by the ordinances in Flagstaff and Coconino County, a recent study shows the state would save $30,000,000 dollars per year and stop 14,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide from being annually pumped into the atmosphere. Imagine these savings if the entire United States were to follow suit.

Great job, and a sincere thank you to Discovery Space for bringing attention to this key issue of protecting dark skies — not only for astronomers but for us all!

see also:

1st dark skies protection ordinance turns 50
Arizona’s Dark Skies, AASTA study in Republic’s Viewpoints

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The DCT First Light Challenge

Lowell Observatory is pleased to announce a $1,500,000 challenge to complete two essential components of the Discovery Channel Telescope.

Our Advisory Board member John Giovale and his wife Ginger, as well as our Director Bob Millis and his wife Julie, have challenged Lowell to raise funds to build the DCT’s autoguider and the Astronomers’ Lodge at Happy Jack, AZ.  For every $2 Lowell raises, the Giovales and Millises will contribute $1, up to a maximum of $500,000.  We are extremely grateful to our lead donors for their vision and commitment to this institution.

We announced the campaign at our recent Advisory Board meeting on June 14, and we are pleased to report that so far we have received gifts and pledges of well over $350,000 from our Board and staff.  We are already over one third of the way to the $1,000,000 Lowell must raise to complete the challenge!

We invite anyone interested in astronomy, and the unique opportunity for research and education that the DCT brings, to visit the First Light Challenge web site to learn more about this campaign.  At this site, you can also read more about the autoguider and the Astronomers’ Lodge, both of which must be completed by DCT “first light” in 2010 for us to be able to commission the telescope.

And to track our campaign progress, we have created the DCT Starry Sky, an interactive map of the heavens.  For any gift of $10 or more, you can place an object in the Starry Sky.  If you wish, you can personalize your object with a brief message. Since Lowell is a non-profit research institution, your gift is 100% tax-deductible.  If you’d like to see what the Starry Sky looks like right now, check it out!  (It’s a big map, so scroll both ways to see everything.)  Many of our staff and board have already placed a variety of stars, nebulae, and galaxies.  As the sky gets brighter, DCT will get closer to first light!

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Discovery Space and StarTales

We are thrilled to announce a new facet of a partnership with Discovery Communications. Earlier this month we wrote about a visit to Lowell and the Discovery Channel Telescope by a Discovery news team. Video journalist Kasey-Dee Gardner and Space Producer for Discovery.com, Dave Mosher spent time here on Mars Hill and at the DCT site and filed a great video news update on the DCT.

Now we’ve launched an exciting new collaboration with Discovery, thanks to Dave Mosher and Discovery Space — it’s an information-packed and visually very interesting website in the Discovery Networks armada. StarTales, Lowell’s daily astronomical feature appears now and then on Discovery Space in the form of the new Space Photo Quiz. The easiest way to find the Quiz is to head down to the bottom left of the Discovery Space site. Many thanks to Lowell Observatory astronomers Phil Massey and Larry Wasserman for reviewing StarTales and making them better and to Dave Mosher and Discovery Space for giving StarTales a new and brilliant stage!

Discovery’s Space Photo Quiz (July 8, 2008)

Posted in DCT, Lowell in the News, Lowell outreach | 1 Comment »