Observational Astronomy

Last term, Spring 2009, I took a great class called "Observational Astronomy." Essentially a lab, it was held one night a week, from nine to midnight on Mondays. We learned constellations, looked at the stars and planets, mapped the moon, and learned to use telescopes and the CCD cameras used with them (and did some boring computer labs when it was cloudy). Here are some of the photos my partner Jolene and I took through the telescope.

1. Sombrero Galaxy - notice the ring of dust forming part of the outer disk
2. Globular Cluster M13
3. The Whirlpool Galaxy

My fourth 911 call

Last week, after going the farmers market, several of us went to my friend Kim's house, where we picked blackberries to make a pie (but instead ended up eating them with ice cream) and played Karaoke, etc. At about 12:30 a.m. everyone was heading home, and as I still lack a drivers license (soon, I promise!), I was biking home. The bike ride from Kim's house to mine takes about 45 minutes to an hour I would guess, and of course it was dark by that point, so others, as they so often do, started worrying about my safety. After many minutes of assuring people I would be safe and that I had done this many times, I finally agreed to call Kim when I got home. If I was not home by 3 a.m. she would call me. I was stopping by Charlotte's, who had just finished packing and was leaving for Chile in the morning, on the way home to say goodbye, hence the extra time.

After leaving Charlotte's, I was biking past Cactus Corner, an intersection about a mile from my house, when I saw a small red car, completely engulfed in flame so dense I could not see if anyone was inside. Of course I immediately dropped my bike and called 911. The car's horn started honking as I was on the phone, as (I would guess) wires melted and connected, but at the time I didn't know if it was someone in the car signaling for help or not. Parts started exploding, the car jolting this way and that and settling down again as tires blew out from the heat. Eventually I heard sirens and the air horn of the Yolo county volunteer fire department calling people in. A police car pulled up, asking if it was my car and telling me to back off (I was already staying a pretty far distance away because of the explosions, etc.), and then several more police cars and fire trucks. The firemen took their time getting hoses out and putting out the fire, and when I called in this week asking if they had figured out the cause of the fire, they told me the car was too burnt to discern anything. The weirdest thing about it, was that throughout this whole ordeal there was absolutely no one around; just some sheep watching from the far side of their enclosure. Needless to say, I got home slightly later than I had expected, but still long before 3:00, so there was no worry on the other end when I called Kim as promised. It was ironic that all this would happen after so much assurance to everyone that my ride home would be without incident.

My First Half Marathon, San Francisco, 7/26/2009 6:30am

A life goal I think I probably share with many people is running a marathon. Last Sunday I took the first step towards this goal: running the San Francisco Half Marathon. It was a really amazing, fun, and memorable experience, much more so than I thought it would be.

For a while now I have been running, mainly to stay in shape for soccer. I was surprised several years ago, when, after never really enjoying running for the sake of running for so long, I found that it could be extremely enjoyable. Even so, I rarely have run more than eight miles at a time, and a half marathon is 13.1 miles, the full marathon being 26.2 miles (42.2 km). I was not too worried about the extra five miles, however; I was planning to run the half marathon for the fun of it, not to come in first or even get a certain time, although I suppose I was hoping to get under an hour and a half (just under 7 minutes/mile). Heck, I didn't even sign up officially ($100 for a t-shirt, nooo waaay!). I decided to go on a little longer run a few days before the half marathon, and found that I had no problem running 11.5 miles, but SF has hills and it would be mostly on pavement instead of softer ground that I am used to running on.

When the day came, my friend picked me up at 5:30 a.m. from my Grandma's, where my family and I were staying. Driving to the marathon, we were able to easily sneak into the bunch of runners at around 6:30. As soon as we got there I got really excited and pumped up. There were so many people (over 20,000 ran that day), packed into the road and spanning the whole distance of the run. I immediately remarked to my friend Rebecca, with whom I was running, "Wow this is awesome, I am so excited I don't think I will ever run out of energy." And it was! I had an amazing time and felt like grinning and laughing the whole time! It was great to see so many people being so active (too many Americans are too lazy these days :P). People wore attire advertising causes they were supporting or training programs they had gone through to get there. Along the sides there would be people cheering everyone on with cowbells, and occasionally stands with Music, Gu, and Electrolyte drinks in small Dixie cups to down as one ran past. The weather could not have been more perfect...slightly foggy and cool, so that I never got too hot or too cold. The route was gorgeous, along the bay, over the Golden Gate Bridge and back, and through Golden Gate Park.

The Golden Gate Bridge was especially exciting. Three lanes were blocked off to traffic: one each for runners going each way, and another for a buffer zone between the cars and runners. The jam of runners became even more dense, so that it was hard to run fast and pass people, but I actually had fun darting in and out and dodging back and forth between people to pass them. On the way back across, we were able to simply push the rope marking the edge of the runner's lane out into the buffer zone, running around people.

Throughout the course there were several hills we had to run up, although fortunately the route was mostly flat. Of course these parts were a lot harder than the rest, and the general speed of the crowd slowed drastically, but signs with trivia were put up (What is the steepest hill in SF? It has a 31.1% grade. Aren't you glad you are only running this hill instead) that made them bearable, and maybe I have built up stronger calves with the sprinting I do in soccer and hiking, but I didn't think they were too bad at all. It is also interesting, how in experiences such as these, I feel a strong attitude of support and community towards and from everyone. That is such a great feeling.

By the end of the race, I was still so pumped up and full of energy I think I could probably have run the second half and completed the marathon, and probably would have done so if I did not have other plans for the day and had to catch a train. We ended up running it in close to an hour and a half, having passed thousands of people and only getting passed by one near the end. I was proud of everyone who was running that day though, and it was a fantastic and extremely fun start to the day. I plan to do many more of these in the future!

In the beginning...

I have decided that although my life is not always as interesting as I would like it to be, and is probably of little interest to most, life has its interesting moments, and if nothing more than a diary for myself, or a book of notable events in my life, I thought I would start a blog to record these. So here goes, enjoy!