January 28, 2012

January 27, 2012 :: Melting Some Glass NPR had a story about the Mirror Lab at U of Arizona ( http://www.npr.org/2012/01/14/145235055/mega-mirror-to-power-massive-new-telescope ) that we visited during our trip to AZ. This is the furnace that melts the glass and spins to get the shape right. The doors on the left are normal sized doors. Someone watches over the process 24-7 from that office for the duration of this process. You can see one of the mirrors waiting to be polished here: http://smu.gs/wbwhMI Edit: I just found the morning Edition version that I actually heard. They have their own pictures if you want to see inside. http://www.npr.org/2012/01/26/145837380/want-to-make-a-giant-telescope-mirror-heres-how

January 26, 2012 I got bored with the same picture thing. I thought I would make it much longer, but it was getting old. This was Sunday morning. The colors at sunrise in the winter can get pretty intense. This looks about right on my monitor, hopefully it isn't over saturated on other monitors.