This is no longer the country I knew

No picture, no news about UKIRT. I just want to say how horrified I am by recent events in the US. Systematic racism has been here for centuries let alone decades, but we should be a more educated and caring society now. But we aren't. And nothing will change unless we have leadership.

The US once had leadership, it no longer does. We now have peaceful protesters being physically removed from a public area just so the president can have a photo op at St John's Chuch in D.C.  The US now has a president who threatens to use the military against its own citizens. This is not America, it's more akin to a dictatorship in Africa or South America. I hope most citizens of the US can see this but I fear the loud, idiotic and, let's face it, racist minority, are winning with the support of the president.

This is no longer the country I love. Trump said it's the greatest country in the World. No, it isn't, not anymore.  

Goodbye, JAC, long live the JAC.

A sad day today, the Joint Astronomy Centre (JAC) will close for business on Saturday 28th February. The JAC has been around for decades and supported both UKIRT and the JCMT. UKIRT left in November 2014 but still used JAC staff for support, but now JCMT will be moving to new ownership this weekend.

The building still exists and both JCMT and UKIRT staff are still there, but the whole organisation that glued us together will be gone. It's quite a sad time but also, a new beginning for both telescopes.

Will Montgomerie, a telescope system specialist at the JCMT, just published this wonderful video as a tribute to the JAC and JCMT, and hope you enjoy it. I'm continually amazed by some of the hidden talents JAC employees have. This video is particularly special:


Starlapse: The James Clerk Maxwell Telescope from William Montgomerie on Vimeo.

End of an era

Tonight is the last night UKIRT operates as a UK telescope. We are closed Friday night during which the changeover to a new operator, the University of Arizona, takes place.

I have worked at UKIRT for 18 years and have observed there since 1991. My feelings are mixed. I am very excited about the future as UKIRT moves ahead and reinvents itself once again. We are moving into areas UKIRT was never designed for but we demonstrated this summer it was quite capable of carrying out its new science mission. I am also sad because I know so many people I have worked with in the past in the UK will likely never visit again. Fortunately, there is interest from the UK astronomical community in staying connected to the telescope. You never know, many old friends may well come out to visit us again, as they did this past week to celebrate UKIRT's achievements, history and its future.

Thank you to everyone who made UKIRT what it is today, and to those who made its future possible.

Hurricane Iselle's aftermath

Hawaii, especially the district of Puna on the Big Island, rarely makes the news, even on the local TV stations in the State. It's a neglected district with many quite poor people living here. Some areas are very beautiful and have many vacation rentals for visitors, some are ravaged by lava flows, but overall it is a large area (roughly the size of Oahu) with thousands of relatively poor families.

Hurricane Iselle devastated much of the district last Thursday night. Thousands of people are without power or running water, some are still trapped on their streets by downed trees. Houses have been damaged or even completely destroyed. Power for many residents won't be back for several weeks despite the heroic efforts of hundreds of local workers and residents, including the National Guard.

I was lucky, I only lost power and water for two days and have only had a relatively small amount of damage to deal with. The further south and east you go into Puna from my place though, the worse things get.

If you are able to donate a little money to help people and families suffering dreadfully after the storm, you can do so via this link:

  http://www.hiunitedway.org/iselle/

And now a video posted by a good friend's nephew:

Well, it's in the public domain now - UKIRT's future

Latest news can be seen here -SFGate news about UKIRT. I'm sure other media sources will pick things up over the next day or so. Local rags picked it up quickly but aren't the places I want to direct people to. Don't know anything about SFGate, but haven't hit a paywall there yet.

The Long Goodbye

Eddie, the cat on the right, has been with me almost since the day I arrived in Hawaii. She's approaching 18 years old now and as a kitten wasn't expected to survive her first year. She was 10-weeks old and just skin and bones and clearly the runt of the litter when I adopted her. The person at the Humane Society told me she needed a lot of love and care to survive, and when her adopted sister, Patsy, died just a few weeks later from FIP, the vet said it was likely she had contracted the disease as well and would die young.

Well, over 17 years later she is still with me, nearly as energetic as she ever was, but the big C has been diagnosed and she has little time left. Because of her age there are no realistic treatment options other than to make sure what little time she has left is as comfortable as possible, and, of course, to feel loved.

It's amazing what an animal can do to you. Before I adopted Eddie I did not particularly like cats, I was always a dog lover, but she has been special. Right now, even though she isn't at her best, she's sitting by my feet watching me type these words although she's probably just watching to see if I have more food for her! There's almost been a human-dog-like companionship between us; she waits for me each evening at the front porch to come home from work and follows wherever I go. She'll even sit on command (sometimes). When she knows it's the right time, she comes to me for petting and a little affection, but also knows when I need time alone. But she's always there when that time ends, often with a little kiss on my nose.

In a couple of months this will come to an end. It will be hard but I know I've given her the best life possible and a much longer one than she would have had if we hadn't met.

A room with a view

Well, Pam opened her Christmas present early, so I can post it here now as well! This was the view from our hotel room in Astoria, Oregon, of the Columbia River and the Astoria-Megler Bridge (you can click on the picture for a much larger version). I can't say enough good things about the Cannery Pier Hotel, it's one of the best places we have ever stayed at, I highly recommend a visit if you ever get the chance.

I now have only a short trip in the future to achieve and complete a small ambition of mine, which is to have driven the entire coast of California and Oregon: Los Angeles to San Diego.

California sunset

 

It's been almost a year since I last posted anything here. Sorry about that. The reasons are both personal and professional and I'm not up to updating anyone on either of those right now. But I did want to share an amazing sunset both Pam and I saw a week or so before Thanksgiving.

This was a sunset seen from Carpinteria Beach. Apparently it's the safest beach in America, or something like along those lines.

I felt very safe, especially as I wasn't in the water and I didn't see any muggers or assassins near me. Lots of people were there that evening because the sunset the previous evening was even more spectacular and everyone was on the beach wanting to see the same thing again. The sunset wasn't quite as good but it was still wonderful to watch. Unfortunately Pam and I were on the road the evening before, so didn't have the chance to capture what was a stunning sight (we saw the sunset from Hwy 101), but this wasn't too bad either.

I have a great picture from further up north I want to share, but won't for now. Pam gets it as her Christmas present which I hope will remind her of the wonderful places we visited on our recent 3000-mile road trip.

And, for those interested, once I can post something about UKIRT's future (and mine), I will!

So what?

We don't care about publication rates. We want our dinner. Now. Otherwise your phone book isn't going anywhere.

UKIRT sets yet another publication record

From "JCMT and UKIRT Break Publication Records Again in 2012". And the UK STFC still plan to withdraw funding later this year. No wonder so many other groups are interested in ownership of UKIRT.

Lowering the flag for the last time

Well, today is an end of an era. The decision was made some time ago, but the UK STFC have ended their participation in the Gemini Observatory today. Not only does this make the UK look bad - who wants to work with a country that's pulling out of so many science projects they've invested in for so many years? - it's created a big problem for Gemini as the UK's financial contribution was a significant part of Gemini's income and operating costs. As you know, the UK will also withdraw support and funding for UKIRT (Gemini's next door neighbour and where I work) at the end of September 2013 and then the JCMT in late 2014. 

Anyway, I was kindly invited to attend the Union Jack flag lowering ceremony this afternoon at Gemini's Hilo-based headquarters as the JAC's representative. Some of the snapshots I took are below.

All seven flags of the Gemini partner countries fly proudly outside the Gemini Hilo Headquarters at 3pm today.

Gemini North Headquarters.

The Union Jack starts to be lowered by Gemini staff members Gabriela and Claire.

Folding the flag - it will be sent back to the STFC in the UK.

Careful! Don't let the flag touch the ground!

The flag is handed to Markus Kissler-Patig, Gemini Director.

I hope the UK government and STFC are proud of this picture.

I was also handed a second Union Jack to give to my own boss when he returns from a trip. No photos of that I'm afraid, but although it was quite a sad occasion people were smiling (perhaps because they now have cut off all ties with the UK STFC?) and it was nice to catch up with many old friends, several of whom worked for UKIRT in the past!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Merry Christmas

2012 has not been my favourite year, the last few weeks up until October were up there with the worst of my life. But then Pam and I visited the UK and my spirits were lifted again. She had only spent a couple of days there 30 years ago and so I took her on a tour of all the places in the UK that meant something to me. Where I grew up, where my family vacationed when I was a kid, where I went to college and where I spent the last couple of years before moving to Hawaii.

It was the best trip of my life. I think Pam enjoyed it as well.

Then it was back to work and dealing with the possible closure of UKIRT, running operations, etc. And then the utterly horrible, stomach-churning, distressing news from Newtown Connecticut. Twenty small kids shot dead along with the teachers that tried to protect them.

I have never felt so upset and I have yet to find a way to deal with the feelings I have. I love America, but how could this happen here? Not your normal shooting spree, that's terrible enough, but to shoot so many young children and their teachers?

Why? The country I moved to, one I love, with so many wonderful people, has people that can do this? Every day I meet people who want to help, have a chat in the store, joke about the weather, criticize my choice of beer or accent while giving me a high five on the way out. Wonderful people who want to stay in touch when I meet them in a distant hotel bar, offers of Thanksgiving dinners with people I've never met, people who go out of their way to help a stranded motorist at the side of the highway.

And then Newtown. 

Why?

I'm sorry I haven't been posting here much, but perhaps you might like to watch a video which I always find helpful when I feel low. I know Pam will like it, several shots of the UK countryside! The music, Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is my favourite piece of music and the poem is wonderful and moving.


Merry Christmas everyone,

Tom

Telescope for sale, one careful owner

Announcement of opportunity
UKIRT prospectus

UKIRT discovers "impossible" binary stars

Artist's impression of the two red dwarfs orbiting each other (credit: J. Pinfield, for the RoPACS network).

Despite facing closure UKIRT continues to produce superb scientific discoveries. In this case a pair of red dwarfs with impossibly tight orbits.

`"To our complete surprise, we found several red dwarf binaries with orbital periods significantly shorter than the 5 hour cut-off found for Sun-like stars, something previously thought to be impossible", said Bas Nefs from Leiden Observatory in the Netherlands, lead author of the paper. "It means that we have to rethink how these close-in binaries form and evolve."

Since stars shrink in size early in their lifetime, the fact that these very tight binaries exist means that their orbits must also have shrunk as well since their birth, otherwise the stars would have been in contact early on and have merged. However, it is not at all clear how these orbits could have shrunk by so much.'

For more, see the full RAS press release.

I'm so pathetic

I haven't taken my camera with me, so this is Dam Square photographed by someone else. I'm staying just to the right in a quirky but very nice hotel. The smell of cannabis on the street outside reminds me of my student days but I have yet to find a city quite like this. It's just brilliant - countless restaurants and bars all within walking distance and an opportunity to forget all the crap that's going on right now.

Then again I have to give a talk about how wonderful UKIRT is despite dealing with the shut-down notice we got a month or so ago from the STFC. The presentation is scheduled for Friday afternoon, the penultimate talk on a Friday evening when everyone has gone home. Wonderful. I have a really good joke to tell as well...

STFC - spending more money for less science

What would you do given the following choice?

1. You have two telescopes that between them deliver more science than any other observatory in the world. You can cut the funding for one of them but the cost of the remaining telescope increases so it costs the same as running both together. The result is less science but the amount of money spent doesn't change. Science becomes more expensive.
   
2. You have two telescopes that between them deliver more science than anyone else in the world. You can keep both telescopes running until a cut-off date sometime in the future. It costs the same as running only one of them, but the science is doubled (actually, tripled going by current publication rates).

I'm curious if anyone else comes up with the same decision as the UK STFC, which is to adopt option 1.

Devastated

From an STFC press release:

"Acting on advice and recommendations from its Science Board, Council has now agreed to:

• extend operation of JCMT to end September 2014, to allow for completion of the agreed science programme for the SCUBA-2 instrument on the JCMT;

• cease STFC support for the operation of UKIRT from end September 2013, a year after the completion of its current survey programme;

• extend operations of ING initially until March 2015, which will provide additional time for negotiations with existing partners with the goal of retaining continued access to the northern sky for UK astronomers."

The reason for ending support for UKIRT a year earlier than JCMT is unclear since there are no savings to be made here, UKIRT essentially comes for free as long as the JCMT is supported. The opportunity to take a year's worth of free data using one of the most scientifically productive telescopes on the planet is being thrown away. As are our jobs.

UKIRT: on the way to another new record

Apologies for the lack of posts recently. This will continue I'm afraid because I'm just too busy. Every so often, however, there's a bit of news that really needs to be shared and it's UKIRT's productivity this time. I still can't believe these numbers are correct but so far everything checks out. We've become a stunningly productive observatory in the last few years and as long as the JCMT is funded with its revolutionary new instrument, SCUBA-2, this stuff comes for free.

UKIRT's productivity continues to rise

A babbling brook

We were on the way to California's wine country via a small country road and took a break to watch the water. I wish I'd packed a picnic...

On the boardwalk

A few more shots from Moonstone Beach including a reworked panorama although I'm still not happy with it. Have to learn to take off the polarizer when doing panoramas, it really makes the sky look weird...

On the boardwalk

On the beach

On the rocks (shaken, not stirred)

Back on the boardwalk