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.