Getting a multi-hour, behind-the-scenes tour of the Very Large Array radio telescope is a very enriching experience — and that’s exactly what a group of 10 of us from the Enchanted Skies Star Party experienced yesterday, Thursday, September 25. Our expert guide was Jon Spargo, who retired a few years ago after 35 years of service with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. He’s now busier than ever, and one of his activities (lucky for us) is leading tours at the VLA.
***Editor's note: We've created a photo album, Enchanted Skies Star Party 2008, of pictures from Dave's trip.***
Before we started, Jon recounted some stories about the filming of Contact at the VLA site years ago. Jon was an extra in the film in addition to helping with technical assistance the filmmakers needed; Bob Zemeckis was the director and Jodie Foster the star. One day a fog loomed over the site, and all the Hollywood types were freaking out because they thought the day’s shooting would be lost. Jon told them not to worry — the fog would lift by 11, as it always did. The hour approached and, by golly, by 11 it was gone. He restored their faith. While they were waiting, Jon and a friend did what the advisers had asked them not to: wandered over to a young lady in a trench coat, the star, who was smoking a cigarette beside the food tent. “Miss Foster, we don’t want to bother you, but wanted to say how much we like your work, and if we can help at all, please let me know — my name’s Jon Spargo,” he blurted out. The young woman responded, “Jon, that’s really nice of you, but I’m the double.”
The VLA tour was long and magnificent. We did the outside walking tour and saw in thorough fashion how the telescopes worked and how their transition and modernizing to the EVLA is working. We then went inside and saw the whole operations center, finding many prize and important artifacts and treasured rooms, and stood in the command center as the telescopes were observing the quasar 3C 273.
After this, a rushed dinner led to observing at the remote, dark-sky site at the El Camino Real Heritage Center 30 miles south of Socorro. Amateurs had an array of telescopes set up under this very dark sky, and we looked at numerous deep-sky objects (along with a glimpse or two of Jupiter) until early morning. Among the greatest hits of the night were the velvety texture of the two halves of the Veil Nebula, incredible details in the Lagoon Nebula, many clusters in and around Cassiopeia, Cygnus nebulosities such as IC 1318, the Dumbbell Nebula, and the whole run of Milky Way stuff from the Table of Scorpius in the south all the way up through the Sagittarius main line. More observing to come tonight.
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