Conversation

Notices

1. Thomas Connor (thomasconnor@mstdn.social)'s status on Monday, 30-May-2022 07:38:30 UTC Thomas Connor

   It's time for my favorite part about being an astronomer: an observing night! Tonight, I'm on the Palomar 200 inch telescope, although I'm doing the observing from home. I've been a bit swamped with other things to talk too much about #Astronomy, but tonight's the perfect opportunity to get back into it.

   So, for the next twelve hours, let's enjoy the fun! #SciComm #Space

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 30-May-2022 08:00:47 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     @thomasconnor Wow.... that's huge. Speaking of which, how realistic is that first scene from Don't Look Up? I mean, can one sole operator run the whole thing just entering commands on a computer?

   • Thomas Connor (thomasconnor@mstdn.social)'s status on Monday, 30-May-2022 08:00:48 UTC Thomas Connor

     in reply to

     As I said, tonight I'm on the 200-inch (that's the diameter of the primary mirror) telescope on Palomar mountain in southern California. The Hale telescope, to use its proper name, was once the largest optical telescope in the world. It's also a giant, in a way that even larger, modern telescopes are not. Nowadays, we can stack some pretty impressive telescopes in relatively smaller domes, but construction of this started before WWII. It is, in some ways, the last of the Telescope Battleships.

     First light occurred in 1949. But in June, 1948 there was a large dedication ceremony. Photos from that event really drive home just how freakin' big the whole thing is.

   • Thomas Connor (thomasconnor@mstdn.social)'s status on Monday, 30-May-2022 08:34:51 UTC Thomas Connor

     in reply to

     • Tagomago

     @tagomago Kinda but also not kinda. For all but the smallest telescopes, you're going to want a telescope operator there. Their job is to handle the operation of the telescope, make sure things are working, and to be ready to protect the telescope if we want to, e.g., observe in high winds. But we're also functionally doing everything ourselves; we send the targets to the telescope, we operate the instruments. And everything is computer operated now; even when you're on site, you're in a separate room (heated and illuminated, both of which are crucial) just sending commands.

   • Tagomago (tagomago@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 30-May-2022 09:01:08 UTC Tagomago

     in reply to

     @thomasconnor Amazing.