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View Full Version here: : Mark and Adam's excellent USA adventure: Part 1


batema
27-09-2011, 02:30 PM
Hi,
Adam and I are on our astronomy tour of the South Western areas of USA, with the wives permission, and we thought we would post some of our adventures. It is a great opportunity that we are relishing with every moment.

Start of our tour
Our first two stars in Las Vegas J
Bellagio fountain show
Hoover dam
Chopper flight over Grand Canyon
Adam checking out potential dome sites
Magnificent place
Clark telescope Percival Lowell used to study Mars and Buzz Aldrin used to prepare for the Moon landing
Huge refractor
Viewing night M15
Which was the focus knob?
Astrograph used by Claude Tombaugh to discover Pluto
Astronomy B&B in Flagstaff 90mm Coronado – unbelievable
Meteor Crater
Hummingbird – Did not realise how small these things are
Titan Missile Museum – Tucson, Arizona
Kitt Peak - Solar telescope
Inside Solar telescope
3.2m Wynn Telescope
Actuators on Wynn scope
Kitt Peak
Inside the hollow pier of 4.2m scope – echoes like you would not believe
4.2m with Adam and flat field (top left – I did not know they had to do flats
RCOS 16 with 140mm for viewing evening Kitt Peak
Pima air and space museum – B29
Blackbird SR – 71
Mark caving
Preparing 2nd 8.4m mirror for Large Magellan Scope at Uni of Arizona Mirror Lab
Polishing first 8.4m mirror
Turning 6.4m mirror
More to come, if we are not banned, as tomorrow night we are imaging with Adam Block using his 32 inch ion milled RCOS JJJJJJJJJJJJ

Mark and Adam

batema
27-09-2011, 02:32 PM
More

batema
27-09-2011, 02:34 PM
More

batema
27-09-2011, 02:35 PM
More

h0ughy
27-09-2011, 03:35 PM
i am green with envy - lucky boys indeed. look forward to the next installment

TrevorW
27-09-2011, 04:03 PM
I second that :thanx:

TinyBlueDot
27-09-2011, 04:25 PM
Oooooh, a Blackbird....I am GREEN

Lucky guys!!!

Octane
27-09-2011, 04:39 PM
You lucky buggers! Top stuff. :)

H

Omaroo
27-09-2011, 04:51 PM
Bucket list indeed! :thumbsup:

Liz
27-09-2011, 05:51 PM
Wow, fabulous pics of your adventure Mark!! Keep em coming. :thumbsup:

multiweb
27-09-2011, 06:51 PM
Drool.... :thumbsup:

gary
27-09-2011, 07:39 PM
Great itinerary! Great pictures! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to part 2.

jjjnettie
27-09-2011, 07:46 PM
:) Looking forward to slide night when you get back.

alan meehan
27-09-2011, 09:10 PM
Mark and Adam you look like you are having a great time ,good pictures ,did you manage to pick up the mustang .
AL

Buddman
28-09-2011, 01:49 AM
JJJ, it will be more than one slide night, between us we tak about 300 pics a day.

Al, went sensible with the car and got a hard top Ford Fusion - glad we did, some days the temp has been about 40 deg C.

Adam

strongmanmike
28-09-2011, 12:30 PM
Wow, the sort of itinery many of us would plan but very few of us would ever get to enjoy...so the photos are great to see.

Awesome :thumbsup:

Mike