Brian York's Life

Another Entry, Another Telescope

Written on June 19, 2008

Why is it that I only write journal entries when I’m visiting telescopes?

Actually, mostly it’s because that’s when I’m pretty much guaranteed to have some time with nothing to do except try to stay awake (accompanied by internet access, of course, since astronomers just love running cables up mountains). Not that I’m on a mountain this time….

Actually, right now, I’m in Socorro, New Mexico, home of the VLA (Very Large Array). I just saw it for the first time today (it’s about 100 km outside of Socorro). I’m not actually here to observe on the VLA, of course, much though I might like to.

So, how is radio different from optical? Well, you don’t care about the weather (it’s been cloudy, raining, whatever (even thunderstorms apparently) at Greenbank, but we haven’t even noticed (of course, at higher frequencies you do notice, but we’re not using them). You can observe during the daylight. RFI is nasty (not so much at high frequencies but, again, that’s not what we’re using). The data reduction package (“AIPS++”, now called “CASA”, and we’re using a single-dish package called “DISH”) is just as quirky as IRAF, but involves a whole new learning curve. Of course, you still use FITS files. All hail the mighty FITS file format (seriously, if there’s one development that has made astronomy easier for everyone, the FITS file format is probably that development). Oh, and the telescopes are a lot bigger. Even the VLA’s (individual) antennas are maybe 15 metres across, (and there are 27 of them, spread over about 40 km, which makes for a very impressive sight), and I can’t even imagine Greenbank — a fully-steerable 100 by 110 metre telescope. Araceibo is 300 metres across, but you can’t move it.

Overall, it’s been a productive (if busy) trip, and New Mexico, aside from the heat and dry conditions, is a really nice area (this part of it, anyway). And now I can add another part of astronomy to my list.

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Entry last updated May 12, 2006