Corning Talk Now Online

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.

Dark Skies Podcast

Just a reminder that the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts continue. Just last weekend there was a new one released by Constance Walker: Dark Skies Crusader Sheds Light on Light Pollution.

I confess that I have fallen somewhat behind on them, but many of the podcasts are quite good and if you aren't listening to them I recommend giving it a shot.

Continuing on the topic of light pollution, remember that Earth Hour is Saturday, March 27.

Palomar History Photo of the Week - January 4, 2010

This week we head back seventy three years to January 3, 1937 when the 200-inch telescope's prime focus elevator arrived on Palomar. The photo shows the prime focus elevator on the truck that bought it here, parked just outside the dome of the 200-inch telescope.

You can see the prime focus elevator as it is installed today in this modern photo below:


The elevator is bright thing middle right in the image.

Recall, that people used to observe with the 200-inch telescope by actually riding inside it. Even though those nights are long gone (the observer sits in a nice warm room) the prime focus elevator still is the preferred mode of transportation to get someone to the upper part of the telescope or dome.

You can hear the prime focus elevator in action in a podcast that I did last year.

This and That

Palomar Observatory is now back on its regular winter hours and open to visitors 9 am - 3 pm daily.


Astrobiology Magazine has named the discovery of exoplanet VB 10b, found using Palomar's Hale Telescope, as one of their Astrobiology Top 10 for the year.

Remember the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts are continuing for 2010, but there still many open dates, even for the month of January.

Miller McCune magazine published an article on the dark-skies movement in Borrego Springs, CA: Stary, Stary Skies California desert town takes back the night, wins rare "Dark Sky" award.

365 Days of Astronomy Podcasts to Continue in 2010

I just got word that the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts will continue in 2010, past the International Year of Astronomy.

According to their website each of the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts are heard by 5,000 - 10,000 listeners.

Palomar Observatory's public outreach effort helped to financially support the program for 2009 and I personally contributed 7 podcasts. They are looking for more people to contribute for 2010. So if you have an idea and the equipment why not contact the and be a part of something cool.

Dark Skies for Borrego Springs: the Podcast

Last month Borrego Springs, CA celebrated their recognition from the International Dark-sky Association as the worlds' second Dark-sky Community. Today's podcast from the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts celebrates their achievement. You can get the podcast from the link above or here from iTunes.

Mt. Wilson Podcast & Lecture

Be sure to check out the new podcast over at The Universe in Mind. In their October 14th episode Hal McAllister, director of the Mt. Wison Instiute, talks about the recent Station Fire and how it threatened the observatory. Also on board is author Marcia Bartusiak. Marcia has written numerous works including the recent and very enjoyable book The Day We Found the Universe. In the podcast Marcia talks about Edwin Hubble and Mt. Wilson.

On October 25, Mt. Wilson Superintendent Dave Jurasevich (black shirt below) will present a free public lecture about his experiences during the Station Fire. The free talk will be held at 2:30 p.m. at the Altadena Library.

Remember, Mt. Wilson is still looking for donations to help them recover from the fire. Visit mtwilson.edu to learn more and make a donation.

Dark Skies Podcast

Today's podcast over at the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts is The Scenery of the Night by Chad Moore of the U.S. National Park Service.

Anyone who cares about light pollution or the beauty of the night sky should listen. In the podcast Chad takes the listener on a trip from Denver to a very dark site that very few people have ever experienced. You can get the show from the link before or here from iTunes.

Palomar Transient Factory Podcast

Today's edition of the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts features me talking about the Palomar Transient Factory. You can read & hear it here from the 365 Days of Astronomy website or get it here from iTunes.

Here's another look at Palomar Observatory's 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope, where the survey begins.

Dark Skies Podcast

Yesterday's podcast from the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts comes from the International Dark-Sky Association. You can hear International Dark Sky Parks & Reserves – Just in Time for Summer Vacation! from the 365 Days of Astronomy website: here or from iTunes.

Edwin Hubble: the Podcast

On June 8 (Yes, I am still catching up) Doug Allen posted Who Was Edwin Hubble? one of the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts. You can get it from their website or here from iTunes. There are lots of super podcasts on astronomy. Have you been listening?

George Ellery Hale: the Podcast

My latest podcast for the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts is now available via iTunes and here on the 365 Days of Astronomy site too.

You can read George Ellery Hale's 1922 book, The New Heavens, here from Project Gutenberg or here from Google Book Search.

I have also posted a copy of Hale's April 1928 article in Harper's Monthly: The Possibilities of Large Telescopes.

Responsible Nighttime Lighting Podcast

In today's 365 Days of Astronomy podcast (available here from iTunes) Connie Walker & Rob Sparks talk about dark skies and what you can do about it. There are many, many ways to get involved. Take a listen.

The Big Picture

Today's 365 Days of Astronomy podcast feature's The Big Picture. The image was captured with Palomar's 48-inch Samuel Oschin Telescope & the QUEST camera, beamed to Caltech via HPWREN and on display at Griffith Observatory. For more and a video (available May 1) visit the Spacewriter.

Astronomy Podcasts Keep on Coming

I am having a hard time keeping up with the 365 Days of Astronomy podcasts, but there have been some good ones recently. Here are three from recent days that might catch your interest.

My podcast about the naming of the asteroids to the Luiseño People.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Outdoor Lighting from the National Park Service's Night Sky Team.

Will the World End in 2012? (Quick Answer: NO!) by Cameron Hummels of Columbia University.

There's lots more good stuff too.

New Asteroids Honor Luiseño People Native to Palomar

Earlier this week I was honored to play a small role in a ceremony here at Palomar Observatory's Outreach Center as three asteroids were named to honor the Luiseño People who are native to Palomar and the surrounding area.

The asteroids, were discovered by my friend and 200-inch telescope operator Jean Mueller. Jean found the asteroids years ago while operating the Samuel Oschin Telescoope as part of the Second Palomar Observatory Sky Survey.

During the course of the sky survey, she scanned most of the plates under high magnification. She looked closely at the images as they were developed searching for comets, supernovae (exploding stars) and fast moving asteroids. In the course of her work, Mueller discovered 15 comets, 107 supernovae and 14 asteroids!

The rules for naming comets and supernovae don't allow the discoverer to have any say in their names, but for asteroids the discoverer has the honor to bestow names. Asteroids, also called minor planets, are first "numbered" after accurate orbits have been determined. Many of the asteroids that she discovered are Apollo-type asteroids. Apollo asteroids have orbits that cross the orbit of Earth and have the potential to someday impact Earth. There are rules to naming Apollo asteroids that are governed by the 15-person Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union. It was only recently that cultures such as the Luiseño could be honored in this way.

The new asteroid names honor figures from the Luiseño creation stories. The names selected were Tukmit (Father Sky), Tomaiyowit (Earth Mother), and Kwiila (black oak).

At Tuesday's ceremony we heard from Jean who said "It has been a dream that I could follow through with the naming of these asteroids for the Luiseño people and to honor their culture and history. I started thinking about this probably 15-20 years ago and took my first steps toward this back in 2003."

That is Jean above. Below is Chris Devers, Chairman of the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians. (holding plaque at left) some of the Pauma kids, myself & Jean (holding a plaque at right).

Chairman Devers had this to say during the ceremony, “On behalf of the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians, I would like to thank Palomar Observatory and Miss Mueller. And we appreciate her dedication to her field and her recognition of our people, our history and our culture." He spoke about the meaning of the names from their creations stories and the "great connection between the stars and the Tribe".

After the presentation of the asteroid plaques the kids gave a wonderful thank you blessing.

The students also brought along some of their artwork depicting the asteroids and/or their interpretation of the asteroids' names. Scroll on down to have a look at their efforts. Some of it is quite good, far exceeding my feeble skills.









This last one looks scary to me!

Here are photos of the asteroids, along with more information on their names and their discovery information.

Asteroid (12711) Tukmit was discovered January 19, 1991. Tukmit is Father Sky in the Luiseño creation story. He was made from nothingness and together with Tomaiyowit bore the First People. The First People became all the people, animals, plants, and inanimate objects of the earth, the basis of Luiseño existence. (Orbit Diagram)

Asteroid (11500) Tomaiyowit was discovered October 28,1989. Tomaiyowit is Earth Mother in the Luiseño creation story. She, together with Tukmit gave birth to the First People, which are all things and features of the earth forming the basis of Luiseño existence. (Orbit Diagram)

Asteroid (9162) Kwiila was discovered July 29, 1987. Kwiila is one of the First People in the Luiseño creation story. Kwiila means black oak, which is indigenous to Palomar Mountain where the Luiseño traditionally gathered acorns during the summer months. (Orbit Diagram)

My next podcast for the 365 Days of Astronomy will include some of the sounds from the naming ceremony. But until then look for the song on this page.

The story got some nice coverage from the San Diego Union Tribune, and was even on the front page of the North County Times the Valley Roadrunner newspapers. The story has also been picked up by Indianz.com and Kumeyaay.com.

Kuiper Belt Podcasts

This week Caltech Grad student Darin Ragozzine gives us a great podcast on The Informative Dwarf Planet Haumea which was followed by a podcast on the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Great stuff for fans of the icy bodies of the outer solar system.

Adaptive Optics Podcast

My podcast on adaptive optics is now available over at the 365 Days of Astronomy website. Of course you can get it on iTunes too.

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

Dark-Sky and High-Flying Podcasts

Be sure to check out the International Dark-Sky Association's February 2, 2009 podcast from the 365 Days of Astronomy. They have lots of great dark-sky resources available for the International Year of Astronomy.

Speaking of podcasts . . . in another my friend Martin Ratcliffe discusses SOFIA, the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. One of its instruments, FORCAST (Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope), was first used on Hale Telescope back in 2006.

That's FORCAST below, before it was attached to the telescope's Cassegrain cage.