T+3 hours: Success!

Posting in a bleary-eyed haze is generally a bad idea, but I want to get the news out:  last night's Pluto occultation was a success!  Unfortunately several groups on the ground were clouded out, but others were able to obtain data and see an occultation, including the group aboard SOFIA.  Read the SOFIA press release HERE!

Images from SOFIA's Facebook page.  [The flight plan (bottom) has a glitch,
the sharp spike to the left isn't real.]

T-7 hours: SOFIA is airborne!

Follow the flight in real time here!

This is the occultation flight!  It's scheduled to be 8h 11m long.  They'll fly to the southwest, then turn around and catch the occultation on their way back to Christchurch.

The flight status at the predicted occultation time.  I love the wiggles to the south on the approach leg,
designed to use up extra time and get SOFIA at the predicted point at the right time.  Fingers crossed!

At UT17:55, SOFIA has turned and is heading back to Christchurch for landing.

T-12 hours: The observing team at Mt. John in New Zealand

[posted for Jay Pasachoff]

Naomi Pasachoff, Jay Pasachoff, Stephen Levine,   Allen Gilmore, Pam Kilmartin, Bryce Babcock, Rob Lucas

Overlooking Lake Tekapo:

Stephen Levine, Pam Kilmartin, Alan Gilmore, Rob Lucas, Tina Seeger, Rebecca Durst, Jay Pasachoff, Bryce Babcock

Photo credit:

Maryrose Fowlie, Mt. John University Observatory

T-1 day: SOFIA check flight

[posted for Michael Person]

Last night, we finished our check out flight on the SOFIA.  There were some problems, and lessons learned all around, but we are confident for tonight’sflight that we’re as ready as we can be.

The flight crew practiced hitting our timing marks by introducing small maneuvers into the timing legs to adjust time where needed.  The first one ended up with us hitting the mark several minutes off.  Then they decided to go for the “aggressive” maneuvering plan.  This second one hit our projected timing mark almost dead on according to the flight crew.  So they’re having a lot of fun, but I’m definitely taking some airsickness meds tonight.   Things got a little wobbly there for a moment during the aggressive maneuvering... ;-)

SOFIA preparing for Twilight Check Flight Takeoff:

T-1 day: Mt. John preparations

[posted for Stephen Levine]

I had a chance this morning to walk along the south side of Lake
Tekapo.  The weather was clear and windy (as it would be for most of
the day).  In the afternoon, I drove up with Rob, and we got POETS
sorted out and ready for Jay and Bryce to install.  Then I went over
to the OC61 and setup the near IR camera.  The day was windy, with
average wind speeds over 60kph and gusts up to over 100kph.  The wind
did not abate much after sunset, and later clouds moved through as
well.

While walking along the south shore of Lake

Tekapo, I saw this group of gulls sitting on a rock in Lake Tekapo.

Mt John is behind them, and the observatory buildings are visible on

the ridge line.

Looking west from the OC61 dome a bit

after sunset.  This was one of the few pictures not blurred out.  To

get this, I was facing into the wind, which was about 60 to 70 kph.

Readout from the Mt. John weather station.  For

much of the late afternoon and evening, 

the wind was variable out of

the west, between about 60 and 80 kph, 

and peaking over 100 kph.

An enticing sign at the start of the trail

from Lake Tekapo to the summit of Mt. John.

Sign at the start of the trail from Lake Tekapo to Mt. John.

The 61cm Optical Craftsman telescope.  The near IR

camera that Henry Roe lent us is the blue box mounted at the back end

of the telescope.

T-1 day: Almost Ready

[posted for Chris Stockdale]

Luke connects up the PICO
camera to the telescope

Steph ponders the GPS cables

Steph & Luke review the MaximDL settings

T-2 days: Cloudy to clear(ish)

The stars of Sagittarius (center) and Capricorn (upper left) peek through clouds in Flagstaff.

Today in Flagstaff did not look very promising for observing tonight.  Thick clouds built up during the day and we heard some thunder.  At night, these thick clouds stayed, hid the moon completely, and even let loose some rain in town and at Anderson Mesa and lightning at the DCT.  To make matters worse, CTIO was also socked in.

Discouraged by the weather, I set to work on looking at last night's astrometric data to see what the updates to the occultation path might be.  In the middle of this work, I had a scheduled call with folks on SOFIA on their test flight, to test communications for tomorrow night when we'll send email and call on the satellite phone to give a last-minute prediction update.  As I stood out in the middle of the street (bad cell reception in the house), talking to people in a 747 flying over the ocean south of New Zealand, I looked up and saw the four stars that make up the handle of the Sagittarius teapot asterism.  Definitely a welcome sight, as it means that Pluto is near (its location is marked by a green circle in the image above, but Pluto itself was not captured here).

See SOFIA's flight path on FlightAware

I came back in to find emails from observers at all four telescopes saying they got at least some data tonight!  That's a lot more than I was afraid we might get, given the weather today and tonight.  Now on to data analysis!

T-2 days: In place at Mt. John

[posted for Jay Pasachoff]

Photos taken at the 1-m McLellan telescope.  Winds are up to 84 km/hr!

See also this post.

(L-R):  Jay Pasachoff, Becky Durst,
Tina Seeger, and Bryce Babcock

(L-R):  Jay Pasachoff, Bryce Babcock,
Tina Seeger, and Becky Durst

(L-R):  Tina Seeger, Rob Lucas,
Bryce Babcock, and Becky Durst

T-2 days: Mt. John/Lake Tekapo

[posted for Stephen Levine]

Mt John/Tekapo

Venus and Jupiter visible above Mt John.  The

light on the mountain is coming from 

some building on Mt John at about

the location of the observatory. (2015 June 26)

Early evening after sunset in Lake

Tekapo.  This view is looking northish 

over the lake from the front of

the motel where I am staying. (2015 June 26)

The east slope of Mt John illuminated by

the rising sun. (2015 June 27)

Looking across Lake Tekapo; clouds above

some of the peaks to the north 

are illuminated. (2015 June 27)

T-2 days: SOFIA photos

[posted for Stephen Levine]

SOFIA Photos

SOFIA at the Christchurch airport on the

evening of 2015 June 26.  Venus 

and Jupiter are above the tail.

The front of SOFIA with Venus and Jupiter

above. (2015 June 26)

The flying hippo on the HIPO control computer.

Note the SOFIA pin. (2015 June 26)

HIPO + FLITECAM installed on SOFIA.  FLITECAM is

the large blue cylinder sticking out 

horizontally from the center, and

HIPO is the large black box beneath it. (2015 June 26)

T-2 days: Pluto Occultation Mission Control

[posted for Carlos  Zuluaga]

The MIT astrometry team has officially started taking over rooms in preparation for a very hectic next 48 hours.

T-3 days: Ellinbank and Hazelwood Observatories, near Melbourne

[posted for Chris Stockdale]

We had a meeting at Peter’s place tonight and had a quick rundown of the Meade scope from Hil (Hilmar Batza).  We’re going to meet again tomorrow.  The weather is looking about as promising as we could have wished for this time of year. Mind you the forecast was for it to be clear tonight. Peter was clouded out and my place was clear when I arrived home.

Luke Weisenbach checks out Hilmar Batza’s Meade 10-inch LX200 telescope, while Hil glances over the top.

Steph Sallum adjusts the occultation camera on the telescope.  Peter Nelson is just to the left of the telescope, and Hil is to the left of Peter.

T-3 days: No time to waste

[posted for Carlos Zuluaga]

Analyzing astrometry data from last night while going through the Starbucks drive-through

T-3 days: Time travel

June 23, 2015. Sadly, a day that will never exist for me.

But! All for a good reason. It just so happens that crossing the International Date Line on my way to Australia made me a time traveler, of sorts.

When I’m not traveling through time (outside of the usual passage), I’m an MIT undergraduate. I was lucky enough to take a class with Dr. Amanda Bosh this past semester, and fortunately landed a research position with her for the summer. In the last couple weeks, it’s taken me from Indiana to Flagstaff, working at Lowell Observatory. Observing Pluto at Anderson Mesa and learning how to use equipment in preparation for this week – a 15 hour flight away.

I’m currently in Australia working with local observers to collect data for the Pluto occultation. Steph Sallum and I have been generously hosted by Peter and Gracie Nelson (to whom I would like to give a huge shoutout – they are the sweetest, kindest people).

Unfortunately the Australian winter hasn’t been agreeing with us the past few days. Cloudy skies and no possibility to see Pluto makes staying up late hard and ditching that jet lag even harder.

Fortunately, the forecast for the big night is looking good. Steph, Peter, another local astronomer Chris, and I had a meeting tonight to discuss logistics for the next few days. In the (hopeful) event of perfect weather, we’ve got 3 telescopes for sure set up and ready to go, with the potential for one or two more friends pitching in as well.

In the event of a cloudout, we pack up our cameras and some borrowed portable telescopes and drive out seeking clear skies!

Steph and I had the chance to drive a bit through the countryside where we’re staying. We took a day trip to Wilson Promontory National Park…can’t pass up the chance to see some Australian wildlife while we’re out here! 

Kangaroos from today. So awesome!

Crossing my fingers that the clear skies from today migrate to the evening and stick around for a while.

T-3 days: Introduction to Molly and Auckland

Hi, I'm Molly. I just graduated from MIT in Course 12 - Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. I've been working with PAL for the last three years out at the MIT Wallace Observatory.

My cat, Mordecai, did not want me to leave on this trip.

I arrived in Auckland last night after over 24 hours of flight time split up into three long flights. I thankfully managed to sleep for most of the trip.

As we were landing in Australia, there was a spectacular view from my window of Sydney. The person next to me was excitedly claiming to see the Sydney Opera House, but I couldn't seem to identify it.

The Observatory that I am at is located in a giant park in the middle of the city of Auckland. It is attached to a planetarium. In the planetarium, one of the walls is covered with a minecraft space mural made of physical orgami blocks. 

On the other side of the room was a beautiful copper refracting telescope.

T-4 days: Sometimes occultation observing involves snowcats and rock climbing

[posted for Steph Sallum]

I'm Steph Sallum, a grad student at University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, and a former MIT undergrad. I started UROPing with the lab, running astrometry scripts, when I had no idea how to use a terminal or what right ascension and declination even meant. (Thanks Carlos for teaching me how to ls and cd, and Jim for giving me a UROP even though I had no idea what was going on.) Eventually I graduated to observing occultations, and got to do some pretty fun stuff. Like, ride in a snowcat up a mountain,

hike down the mountain because the snowcat broke,

unfreeze freezing camera electronics (here's a picture I took of Chip's turn with the heat gun),

and (somehow) get some data. These days I don't spend my research time thinking about occultations, Pluto, or its atmosphere, but the years I spent with PAL were exciting enough that I'm happy to come back for more.

T-5 days: SOFIA photos, part 3

[posted for Michael Person]

Michael Person is in New Zealand getting ready to fly on SOFIA, and he sends these photos of the preparations there.

SOFIA in the Christchurch airport on 6/24

T-6 days: SOFIA photos, part 2

[posted for Michael Person]

Michael Person is in New Zealand getting ready to fly on SOFIA, and he sends these photos of the preparations there.

HIPO Camera getting loaded onto to aircraft transport truck.

Ted Dunham doing final check before releasing the brakes.