Trips around San Diego
Palomar Observatory
I ended up observing at Palomar twice at the beginning of April, and, for the first night, the weather was not quite good enough to observe. But, being fogged in and rained on does mean that we got a chance to go explore the telescope, which was definitely a cool opportunity. From getting to ride up to prime focus (all the way near the top of the dome) to climbing inside one of the arms to seeing the electronics (and, most importantly, the billiard room where many great astronomers spent such cloudy nights), it made for a fun night and some cool photos.
Palomar Observatory
Being an astronomer is a lot of fun - especially when we get to do observations. I finally got to do my first observing run at Palomar last night (although I was just helping out - just a bit). For those who don't know what it's like, essentially you spend the night finding targets using a guide camera, and then taking exposures that will theoretically tell you something. We were able to observe from about 8:30 PM till about 5:30 AM, which meant I got to see sunset and sunrise from the top of the mountain.
When not observing, observers stay at the "Monastery" - the lodge for visiting observers. It was a lot of fun, and I'm hoping to get observation time again next semester, so this should hopefully be a semi-regular sort of thing for me.
I took some time to take plenty of photographs. To explain the P16/48/200 references, they refer to the diameter of the mirror in the telescope (in inches). The P48 is a wide-field telescope, the P60 (which I don't think I have any photos of) is primarily used to measure how much light (photometric), and the P200 (the one I was observing on) which is primarily used for spectra. The P200 (also called the Hale telescope) is the 19th largest currently constructed telescope in the world.
San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park
Since my parents, sister, and niece were all visiting this week, we decided to take a day trip down to the Wild Animal Park today. Unlike most zoos, a lot of the animals here are not kept in cages but in large enclosures that house more than one species (though, as was pointed out to us, predators and prey are kept separate).
Along with the usual large number of species, we saw two critically endangered species - one California Condor and two Northern White Rhinos. I have pictures of both, along with many of the other animals, in the Wild Animal Park Gallery.
Cabrillo National Monument
Over the President's Day weekend, Lydia, my then girlfriend, and I took a trip to San Diego to go to the zoo, whale watching, and Cabrillo National Monument, among other things. Cabrillo is at the end of a peninsula, with amazing tidepools and wonderful views of both the Pacific ocean and San Diego.
Whale Watching off San Diego
Over the President's Day weekend, Lydia, my then girlfriend, and I took a trip to San Diego to go to the zoo, whale watching, and Cabrillo National Monument, among other things. We only saw a few whales, and only far away, But there were plenty of sea lions hanging around as well as a few dolphins who rode off the bow of the ship. Also plenty of Navy vessels due to the military presence in San Diego. Definitely a fun time and cool things to see.
