Tag Archives: Skywatch Friday

New Mexico’s Very Large Array Radio Telescope

Earlier this month, during my sojourn to Eagar, Arizona for a high school reunion, one of the things I really wanted to see was the Very Large Array, a radio telescope the feds built on the Plains of San Agustin. A huge, very flat, very dry, former lake bed in a remote part of New Mexico. My family left the area in 1971 and the facility started being built in 1973 and was operational a few years later.

I had read and seen photos of the giant antennas at the site. There are twenty eight of them and they are ninety feet tall. When I dropped out of the mountains to the plains where the VLA is located, the plains are so vast that the antennas looked like small mushrooms popping up on a large football field. But when you get close, the antennas are indeed gigantic.

There are twenty eight of these antennas spread out on three rails going out from a hub. The rails are in a Y configuration and and are about ten miles in length give or take. This allows the towers to be wide apart to focus in on details. You see the tires are all wired together with fiberoptics and are connected to a supercomputer. So it simulates up to a 22 mile wide telescope. I am not sure that I understand it all but fortunately they have a comprehensive web site with all sorts of videos, photos, and other things to help you make sense of it.

They have a very good, self guided, walking tour. They ask that you register in advance. It only costs a few dollars per person.

This is big science but it is retro big science. They first started making images there in 1980. They have upgraded the software, wiring, and computational capabilities so they keep the site current.

The VLA is in this remote site because of the flat terrain, high altitude, and low humidity. The mountains that ring the plains help keep out radio waves. Warning though, the site has not very good cell phone coverage and the facility has no street address so they suggest you download the map on google maps or may never get there. They actually don’t like cell phones and ask that you turn yours completely off when visiting. They said the cell phones can kind of fog the images. In fact everything you have that is wireless including blue tooth just turn off.

This is the admin building where the technical stuff and people are. They let you walk on the balcony but you cannot go inside.

This is the barn where they do maintenance and upgrades on the antennas.

This is the transporter that picks up and moves the antennas. They change their configuration of the towers every several months.

Check this link for a video narrated by Jodie Foster explaining the VLA. She does a lot better job than I can. She made a movie, Contact, that had her at the VLA communicating with aliens.

Linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World

Skywatch Friday – Magdalena, New Mexico

On my recent trip out west for a high school reunion I stopped at the old mining town of Magdalena, New Mexico. Ever since I was a little kid I was intrigued by old mining town of the west. At the time, the early 1970’s the town reminded me of the desolate towns in Clint Eastwood’s Fistful of Dollars movies. Magdalena was a town where we never stopped, we just went through. My dad worked for the US Forest Service and they had a ranger district in Magdalena and my mother would thank her lucky stars that dad never been transferred there. So here I am years later able to stop. I didn’t spend too long though.

The Magdalena area was of course populated by Native Americans prior to, and after, Europeans arrived. Spainish soldiers explored the area in the 1500’s but I don’t think they stayed. In the 1860’s miners were digging for lead, gold, and silver and the town became incorporated in 1884. A railroad spur was built to the area about then. The railroad helped spur the cattle and wool industries in the region. Most of the mines were up the canyon in the little town of Kelly.

After World War II Magdalena started a long decline as the mines had depleted also wool and cattle prices declined. The railroad quit operating and the tracks were pulled up in the early 1970’s. Ranchers were shipping their cattle by truck by then.

The town has less than a thousand inhabitants but has kind of turning into a funky location. The town’s hotel and other buildings have been restored and there is kind of a funky vibe in the air. The Very Large Array Radio telescope is within a half hour and that has added some spice to the mix. They still have that beautiful blue New Mexico sky overhead as well as an intense sun beaming down despite relatively low temperatures.

***A church in Kelly that looks like it gets used every once in a while.***

I drove up the canyon the short distance to the old town of Kelly where the mines actually were. Lots of old mine entrances fenced off and violators will be violated signs. I don’t think anybody lives there any longer but it looks like a great place for the local high schoolers to party. The only building still standing was this old church.

I was up there all by myself and then this old guy in a truck with Texas plates shows up and he comes over and we start talking. Texans are like that you know. His family has a ranch in west Texas and it had an old abandoned mine in it. The guys brother was poking around in it and found some old metal parts of some kind labelled Magdalena Smelting Company, or something like that so this guy was always intrigued by that and so was scouting things out. He wanted to explore some more and I had a timed entry admission to the Very Large Array and so we parted ways.

On the way out of Kelly I came across these old foundations. Who knows maybe that was Magdalena Smelting Company?

So I got to visit Magdalena after being intrigued by it 50 years ago. Never give up is what I say.

My sources of information are Wikipedia, New Mexico True, and The Magdalena Public Library

Here is a video of the ghost town of Kelly made by not me. I tried to find old photos and there a bunch of them and many of them very cool old cowboy, ranching, mining stuff but all rights are reserved so I am not touching them.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World

Road Trip Skies – Tower Gas Station and the Bug Ranch

On interstate 40 last week on the way to a class reunion in Arizona. The Texas Panhandle is pretty flat but the skies were interesting. Lots of people tell me how “boring” this stretch of road is. I don’t find it boring at all! Oh no, I see all sorts of interesting things while driving.

I stopped for gas in Shamrock, Texas. Shamrock is home to the Tower Gas Station. A beautiful art deco structure from the 1930’s. It has been restored and is beautiful. It is no longer a gas station but more of a visitor center.

Attached is “Do Drop Inn” a former restaurant that has also been preserved. Roadside America has a post on this stop. The gas station and former cafe are big stops for Route 66 fans.

Further to the west on the freeway is the Bug Ranch. It is kind of like Cadillac Ranch (for a later post). I found it fun. It’s free and they take donations so I gave them a couple dollars. It’s another Route 66 attraction. Most references call it the slug bug ranch.

You can buy spray paint but I declined. I just wanted to take photos.

They had a couple of other vehicles as well.

I love road trips. The rest of my family hates them. I kind of like the Route 66 attractions but I don’t spend much time driving Route 66. Too slowwww!!!

I am linking with Skywatch Friday and My Corner of the World

Skywatching Road Trip

I’ve been incommunicado since last Saturday. I went on a road trip to Arizona to attend my 50th reunion of my first high school, Round Valley High School in Eagar, Arizona. I didn’t graduate from there but I was contacted by several of my classmates and why not go? I like those people and had not seen any of them since my family left the area at the middle of my sophomore year. So I went and had a great time. More on that later, and by the way I am attending my Albuquerque high school 50th reunion in August. How many people do you know get to attend two reunions? Sorry this is a skywatch post so I’ll get to the task at hand.

Keeping it real, iphone shot from the car, bugs on the windshield and all. The west has big skies. I could of taken hundreds of windshield shots but held back.

A leaning water tower in the Texas Panhandle. What I read is that it was intentionally installed that way by a guy who was trying to promote his business. He and the business are gone but the tower remains.

I stopped and checked out the Very Large Array in a remote area of New Mexico called the San Agustin Plain a very flat former lake bed that met the project’s desire for low humidity, “flatness” and isolation from human electrical signals, (you have to turn your cell phone off as well as any device that has bluetooth on it.) More on the VLA later and there were dramatic skies.

Another shot from the San Agustin Plain. It takes forever it seems to drive across, my father always called it the “San Agustin Very Plain.”

So I am glad to be back home now and I am linking to Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – Before the Storm

We had a big wind storm here in Tulsa a week and a half ago. Over 200,000 homes lost power. (We were lucky, we never lost power.) So my SWF post last week was mainly about the storm. Now, almost everybody has had power restored. It’s amazing how fast other power companies send crews to storm ravaged areas to restore service quickly. How do they do that? They do it a lot and are good at it and I am grateful.

So these are photos that I have been saving.

A view down a neighborhood street at sunset.

Time spent at a music event sponsored by a local park.

A stop on the Arkansas River.

What’s known as Pepsi Lake on Turkey Mountain.

The refinery on the river experiencing an process upset. Generally you can’t even see the flare. When I was still working downtown and I saw this I would call a friend of mine who’s husband was a manager at the refinery and I’d say, “Call Don, something’s wrong, don’t want him to get fired.” She’d laugh as with things like this all sorts of alarms go off and Don would know all about it.

Construction still going on for the new pedestrian bridge and dam across the Arkansas River at the Gathering Place.

I always fly the flag on holidays and Flag Day is a holiday.

My bike at a rest stop on the river.

Hey, that small mound across the river is Turkey Mountain. I appreciate everybody not calling our mountain a hill. We love our little hill.

The end, nice a refreshing spot on the river. I call it the Bear Fountain. Its actual name is kind of complicated and includes the name of the company who paid for it. I salute them but I’m still calling it the Bear Fountain. They used to have “do not climb the fountain” signs on the sculpture and people were all over it including me and my son. They took the signs away and so people stay off it. We are a funny species is what I think.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Suburban Adventuring to Stokely Event Center

Last week, son had a meeting to attend at our church. I’m always looking for a side trip for such things. There was an urban bike trail I wanted to explore and it was adjacent to where he was meeting. So I took my back and saddled up.

First part of the trail was nice. Nice and wide, protected from traffic and in good shape. (Sorry about the photo quality, I was using my generic go pro mounted on my bike and it was taking a photo every ten seconds.)

That lasted about a mile and then…

On to a sidewalk for me. Bicyclists are not suppose to ride on sidewalks but nobody else was using them so why not?

Got to a place where I could cross the busy highway. It took about five to ten minutes for a big enough gap opened up where I could get across the street safely. On the return trip I used a crosswalk at an intersection.

I was in a commercial area for most of the rest of the trip. I was marked as a bike route along with lots of helpful, but ignored, “Share the Road” signs. Actually everybody was pretty nice about it and gave me plenty of room.

And then back on a trail. There is an outdoor advertising company that owns an event center, Stokely Event Center. At the event center they have all sorts of vintage outdoor signs. Inside they have lots of neon signs. We have been to several events there and they do a great job. Very good hosts who are generous of the time and amenities that they provide. No nickel and diming. Check the link above.

They have huge billboards with painted replicas of old signs from Tulsa’s past. The billboards front a freeway intersection but you can’t really study them ripping by at 65 mph. The bike trail I was on also fronts them so I was able to go and check them out.

That was the whole purpose of my trip. Oh I could have driven and parked closer and walked on the trail but that’s no fun!!

Mission accomplished. So I just turned around and went back in time to pick up the kid.

Here is a map of my route. I learned a bunch for next time, except there probably will not be a next time.

Here’s a video of my adventure. I had a blast all though it was not what I would call a relaxing ride.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – On the Trails

I went on a bike ride recently on Tulsa’s RiverParks Trails alongside the Arkansas River. I love the trails because one can ride for miles and miles without crossing a street. I took along my cheap GoPro clone camera that I have had for years. It takes a bad photo ever ten seconds. I end up deleting almost all the bad photos but I keep a few and run them through Adobe Lightroom to make highly edited bad photos. I kind of like them actually.

I like how the camera and then Lightroom distorts the colors. I also like it when people are involved so they are kind of like street photos but on a trail.

To me these photos capture of sense of not just solitude but aloneness like everybody else in the world has disappeared.

Familiar scenes seem vacant.

On the other hand this looks like a guy out for a run.

I also brought a “good camera” a lightweight superzoom and took a couple shots across the river. This building is the River Spirit Casino.

And this one is a collection of office buildings that used to be the Oral Robert University medical school and hospital.

So if you are on the Tulsa River Parks and see an overweight old guy on a bicycle with a go pro clone mounted on his handlebars smile real big!

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday.

Get Away to Southeast Oklahoma

May be an image of 3 people — ***Heather, Logan, Kodi, and Me, left to right***

The family went on a little mini vacay this week down to Beavers Bend State Park in southeast Oklahoma.

We stayed in a nice cabin

Went on one big hike and a smaller hike.

Kayaking for me and Logan, and Standup Paddleboard for Heather on Broken Bow Lake.

Kodi went with us on the shorter hike along the Mountain Fork River.

He got a little intro into swimming in a river.

Some fire pit time for everybody.

Checking out a partial moon.

We had a great time. More to come.

Skywatch Friday

Skywatch Friday – At Home, On the Road, Trail, and

A shot from the front yard during a rainy interlude.

My wife and Kodi the pomeranian on a walk in the neighborhood greenbelt. I love the orangey sky.

I went on a bike ride on the Osage Prairie Trail in Osage County. This gas station was a location for the movie “The Outsiders” filmed way back in the 1980s. It has been restored by some volunteers and has a sign, fake gas pumps, paint inside and out and geocache. Which I found. One of my geocacher friends had a big role in the restoration.

This is a pond in Skiatook at the northern end of the Osage Prairie Trail.

A nearby church is having a revival!

The old railroad bridge on the trail is a favorite spot of mine for photos.

Switching Gears, this is a scene from Turkey Mountain on a recent hike.

And a shot from the RiverParks trails in Tulsa. I wasn’t hiking or biking, I was handing out gallons and gallons of coca cola and red bull to exhausted runners slogging through the Tulsa Ironman competion. 141 miles combined of swimming in open water, an over 100 mile bike ride, and a marathon distance run. It was a warm day. They had a 70 mile race for wimps.

I’m kidding about the half distance people being wimps. I couldn’t do it in a week. I admire their dedication. I have to admit though why people doing an endurance race would want red bull or coke.