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General Discussion => Science & Nature => Topic started by: sam on November 17, 2009, 23:05

Title: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 17, 2009, 23:05

Oh yes I'm in Puerto Rico and just wanted to show off really... I'm at the Arecibo Observatory (you might know it from such films as Goldeneye...) I'm being put in charge of the telescope (as a trainee) tonight... what could go wrong  :dunno:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 17, 2009, 23:17

The immortal words "Take me to your Leader" springs to mind.   ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 17, 2009, 23:37

Should we start praying?  ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 18, 2009, 02:34

 >:(

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 18, 2009, 02:48

oh here is my first pic... http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydude/4112846879/

I'm getting to go up to the receiver later in the week  :woot:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 18, 2009, 09:56

That must be really exciting, Sam.  Bet you're glad you went now!  :thumb:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 18, 2009, 10:38

yeah, mostly

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 18, 2009, 10:40

Quote from: sam on November 18, 2009, 02:48

oh here is my first pic... http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydude/4112846879/

I'm getting to go up to the receiver later in the week  :woot:

Makes me think of War of the Worlds, Sam. :)

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 18, 2009, 11:09

Sandra was wondering where one of her satellite dishes had gone.  ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 18, 2009, 12:25

Good for you Sam!  I think you will be making a lot of people very jealous by being able to work with all these iconic instruments.  It will do your career the power of good!  If you need someone to make the tea you can always contact me.   8-)

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 18, 2009, 16:17

what you'll send the boy over from the cruise ship?  :)x

I can't moan really in my short career I've used or visited all the big radio observatories apart from those ones in Australia.. just gotta get someone to offer me that permanent gig at a UK University...

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 18, 2009, 16:54

Yes, it would be nice to study the sky from Australia.  All those southern circumpolar constellations!  But you must have seen reasonably far south from India and now Puerto Rica.  The farthest south I've been is northern Venezuela which is nowhere far enough! 

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: GillE on November 18, 2009, 18:00

The sky is very clear in the Falkland Islands.  In fact, coming back to Britain felt like entering a fog.  You don't realise how badly polluted the industrialised world is until you have been somewhere like that.

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 18, 2009, 19:02

Can't get much farther south than that without hitting Antarctica Gill!  It must have been a joy to see the Magellanic Clouds against the backdrop of the southern stars.  Were you taking part in the Falklands War Gill? 

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: GillE on November 18, 2009, 20:15

No, thank goodness.  I arrived a few years after hostilities ceased.  It's a hard climate, though; I remember standing on top of Mount Kent in a 200mph wind.  However, I did manage to go swimming off Saunders Island which has some spectacular scenery and wildlife.  I wasn't supposed to, but how often do you get the chance to swim with porpoises and penguins?

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 18, 2009, 20:30

 

Quote from: Clive on November 18, 2009, 16:54

Yes, it would be nice to study the sky from Australia.  All those southern circumpolar constellations!  But you must have seen reasonably far south from India and now Puerto Rica.  The farthest south I've been is northern Venezuela which is nowhere far enough! 

Well we are still 18N here...

Oh and I'm going to be party of a VLBI session tomorrow morning - that's half the planet size radio imaging!

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 18, 2009, 21:45

It must have been a wonderful experience, Gill.  And you were still standing in a 200pmh wind?   :o

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 18, 2009, 21:48

Quote from: GillE on November 18, 2009, 20:15

I wasn't supposed to, but how often do you get the chance to swim with porpoises and penguins?

I had no idea that anyone had swam with penguins before!  You must be a member of a very small club Gill!   :)

Quote from: sam on November 18, 2009, 20:30

Oh and I'm going to be party of a VLBI session tomorrow morning - that's half the planet size radio imaging!

Oh I can see you are in major name-dropping mode now!   ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: GillE on November 19, 2009, 04:03

I was extremely fortunate.  A small group of us had been dropped onto the island for our day trip R&R (we got one day off during the whole of our four months there) and I was determined to make the best of it.  Although it was sunny it was also bitterly cold, so we all wore our thermals plus foul weather gear.  Saunders Island is a fabulous nature reserve and we had a blast wandering among the rocky outcrops where there were nesting albatrosses, shearers and penguins.  We could walk right up to the birds because they didn't recognise us as potential predators or foes; even nesting birds.  I'll never forget the smell of the place - fish!

At one point I strayed from the main group and found myself on the shingle shore.  I dared to take my boots off and ran barefoot through the South Atlantic for a while, kicking the surf and getting much wetter than I had anticipated.  I looked up to the cliff above me and could see the rest of my group there, waving at me and pointing out to sea, so I waved back at them and tried to see what had grabbed their attention in the water.  Sure enough, I could see penguins arcing through the waves.

It was one of those instinctive reactions; I was already half-soaked, so I stripped to my undies and dived in.  For a few moments I was surrounded by bouncing penguins, apparently gambolling in the waves, swimming almost to within touching distance.  Then they were gone, scurrying off to their nests and leaving me to enjoy the surf.  Again I looked up at the cliff and everyone was waving at me.  I thought they seemed more urgent than before so I looked out to sea once more and there were three porpoises zooming towards me.  They never came as close as the penguins but still swam very close to me.  By now the cold of the South Atlantic was beginning to bite so I only stayed with them for a short while before I had to return to the shore.

As I was pulling my clothes on, one of my friends ran up to me in a state of some consternation.  From the cliff top he had seen a bull elephant seal off the shore stalking the penguins out at sea and he had waved to me to warn me of the danger.  Elephant seals are partial to a tasty penguin and have been known to attack humans too.  Being on the shore, I didn't have his advantage of being able to see the elephant seal out to sea.  It was beyond my horizon.  Instead, I had unwittingly dived into an ocean full of penguins trying to escape their predator.  Goodness only knows where the porpoises came from, but I believe somehow they recognised my danger and swarmed around me to protect me against the elephant seal until I had made landfall again.

It was a very memorable experience.

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 19, 2009, 07:50

Wow, what a fantastic story, Gill!  :woot:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 19, 2009, 08:23

wow!

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 19, 2009, 09:20

Thrice wow.

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 19, 2009, 11:22

It's an awesome story!  Thanks very much for sharing the experience with us.  I can imagine it must have been a very amusing sight with all those penguins swimming around you!

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 19, 2009, 16:57

I was hoping for pictures of Gill in her wet undies.  :devil:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 19, 2009, 18:12

Careful, she's an ex army girl.  She probably still has weapons.  ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 19, 2009, 18:14

:scoot: :peepsofa:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 19, 2009, 18:18

I now have Iron Maiden stuck in my head... run to the hills...

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 19, 2009, 18:19

You should see a doctor first, Sam. ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 19, 2009, 18:21

but I see myself all the time  :laugh:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 19, 2009, 18:25

:groan: ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 20, 2009, 06:36

oh thought I'd share a few photos of my observing... I'm currently in control of the scope on my own, kinda cool its the first full observing run I'll have done on my own and all seems to be going well :-D

here is a cheesy photo of me with the reciever in the background:

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2649%2F4118579472_d9f40f494c.jpg&hash=a76df935cf992db8ffb74b1b6e4e95dfad0ea2e9) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydude/4118579472/)

The receiver itself:

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2790%2F4117809775_3c6e03b857.jpg&hash=e2c72eb65e364bfe8e824c46a2601cbff252bf32) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydude/4117809775/)

The dish

(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2656%2F4118578728_76e3a1a297.jpg&hash=4a64c3f7479110d6b667a44cadf15211702ba232) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydude/4118578728/)


and under the dish, I intend to go properly under tomorrow but it was too darn hot today..


(https://www.pc-pals.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffarm3.static.flickr.com%2F2662%2F4117809031_967f0aac33.jpg&hash=aa08788ea41963f8915efffdd3cb10bdf981e9bb) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/starrydude/4117809031/)

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 20, 2009, 09:21

Looks like it needs a coat of paint, Sam. :)

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 20, 2009, 09:23

Quote from: Rik on November 20, 2009, 09:21

Looks like it needs a coat of paint, Sam. :)

that's what humidity does to things...

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 20, 2009, 09:24

I recommend Hammerite. :)

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 20, 2009, 09:28

 :smirks:

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 20, 2009, 09:51

They must think a lot of you to allow you to be in charge of one of the world's most important radio telescopes - even if it is only for a night or so.  I know people who would give their right arm for such an experience! 

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 20, 2009, 09:55

yeah, tis really quite cool - I'll probably be running it on my own for the next week or so now...

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 20, 2009, 11:54

You'll be in charge of the LHC next!  ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Rik on November 20, 2009, 11:57

 :aarrgh: Run for your lives... ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Clive on November 20, 2009, 12:21

Quote from: sam on November 20, 2009, 09:55

yeah, tis really quite cool - I'll probably be running it on my own for the next week or so now...

 :welldone: Sam.  We will make a list of objects we would like you to investigate.   ;D

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: sam on November 21, 2009, 04:20

Quote from: Simon on November 20, 2009, 11:54

You'll be in charge of the LHC next!  ;D

particle physics, pah!

Title: Re: Hello from the worlds largest single telescope!
Post by: Simon on November 21, 2009, 11:27

Ah, the low life?  :)x