As many of you saw through the webcam today, Paul Cox was working steadily on the domes to get them back into service after high winds caused some damage last week. You could also hear him whistling and listing to music as he worked through the dome audio. We’ll get a full report from him on the SkyLog soon, but I know everyone is elated that Dome 2 is already back online! Looks like Dome 1 needs more care and feeding this week, and we’ll have an update for you as soon as possible.
Speaking of updates, many of you have asked for an RSS feed of the dome status, weather conditions, and radio programming. We’re happy to announce Slooh’s Twitter Feed! Twitter is a social networking site that allows you to “follow” the daily happenings of people and groups. You can either subscribe to the RSS feed at the bottom of the page for your news reader, or sign up for a free account. A Twitter account allows you to make your own profile and set notifications preferences (like email or even sms text messages to your cell phone) for each account you follow. There are other Slooh members already on Twitter sharing photos and experiences. Paul is also sending updates at chileastro and my account is here. This is a great way to get up to the minute Slooh operations & programming updates, and to spread the word to future members. Please let me know if you have any feedback or questions - and post your Twitter accounts in the comments so we can all follow each other and have a new online sandbox to play in:)
Join us on Slooh Radio for “The Big Picture” with SkyGuides Thomas Kennedy and Larry Wadill at 9PM ET/1AM UT. Rain or shine, they will present a special on Radio Astronomy. Below are the accompanying slides for the broadcast. You can watch them here in the blog while listening to the show in the Mission Interface or click “view” to see it in fullscreen mode.
Stay tune for “Quantum Leap” at 10 PM ET/2 AM UT for a dose of the latest in astrophysics. And visit the chat room to ask the SkyGuides your questions.
Slooh Member Gregory S. had clouds over his home skies, but was able to still enjoy the Messier Marathon on Slooh. Here’s his collage of all the objects taken with the Canary Islands observatory. Congratulations on capturing them all! See his post in the forum.
If you haven’t already noticed, the All-Sky camera for Chile is up and running! The best place to see it is on the Chile Conditions page, because you can click on it to get the full-size image. This is the first working end-to-end implementation of the observatory software for SLOOH V3.0, and represents a major milestone.
The current SLOOH V2.0 system uses Java on both ends (observatory and web server) and the communications in between are a proprietary SLOOH-invented format called ROMP (Remote Observatory Messaging Protocol). The USPTO granted a patent on the V2.0 live image processing system last year. For V3.0, we have transitioned to a more “web-standard” implementation for both the observatory and web-server software. It is a novel application of proven web technology, sufficiently different and unique to apply for a new patent. This new approach is more flexible, supports multiple observatories, and has the hooks to support later features like the Advanced Observing Interface.
The All-Sky still has some work to be done: It is not yet calibrated with dark and bias frames, so you will see some noise at first. The automatic exposure adjustment needs tweaking to handle dark, twilit, and moon-lit nights. And finally, the dark mask surrounding the image and containing the SLOOH logo needs to be added. This work is ongoing.
Remember, this is not just the All-Sky camera. It is the proof-of-concept for the all-new software we are writing for the main scopes in Chile and Australia, and will soon be retrofitting to Mt. Teide. Full speed ahead!
Today we are launching another feature of Slooh 3.0 - the Slooh SkyLog. This will be the community journal of all that goes on at Slooh - nightly programming, special events, member achievements, and more. Since Slooh launched in 2003, we’ve viewed over a quarter million images with our live, robotic observatory in the Canary Islands. Now we’re taking the next step to showcase all that you do here, from the beautiful skyshots featured on mySlooh to real science.
On at least two occasions, Slooh members have found “pre-discovery” images of supernovas. Supernovas are massive stellar explosions that occur at the end of a large star’s life cycle. They are so luminous that they outshine entire galaxies - and are easy to visually spot if you know where to look. It turns out that the Slooh Telescopes caught images of some supernovas before they were officially discovered, but it takes a human to notice the change and get the credit. We already have some avid supernova hunters here on Slooh, but we need more eyeballs. We can also search for comets and asteroids, and make real scientific discoveries! If you’re interested in joining the effort, connect with your fellow members in the chat room & forums, and stay tuned to Slooh Radio for How-To shows.
We hope you enjoy the new Slooh SkyLog! If you would like to submit pictures or stories email me at tierney@slooh.com.
