Week Five and Six - Green Bank WV

SCIENCE!

I had been fairly consistent in recording the week by week progress of this 6 week workshop for the first 4 week West Virginia University portion of it. However, here I sit on the last day of the 6th week without having added a thing. The nature of these two weeks have been fairly intense between doing experiments, teaching the kids here, and just living in the house with everyone. At this juncture, I will say that this workshop has been great and I am glad to have been part of this experience. I think what I will do is break the remaining parts of this blog into the different experiences that have been intertwined for the last two weeks.

Since I was here in Green Bank West Virginia last year, I will leave a few links here that I entered in last year's blog about Green Bank...

(from Aug, 2017) The astronomy nerd in me wanted to get to National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, WV. It has the largest steerable telescope on the planet...a big radio telescope.

Green Bank Telescope

Welcome to...The Quiet Zone

(Again, from Aug 2017) There is an area designated in our fine United States where there is a major restriction on radio transmissions. This means essentially no radio stations, TV stations, cell phone towers. As you get closer to the center (Near the radio telescopes) there is no cell phone use, and even microwave oven use can be fined. Apparently some people that consider themselves hyper-sensitive to all types of radio transmissions will move into this area. The area is approximately 13,000 square miles, which is about the same as Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island combined.

Because of this, I am not sure if I will be able to keep a daily blog. It will be very remote for the first week, and if I can't find an internet cafe type place, I may have to wait to send out bloggy stuff....Time will tell. Or if you are reading this after the completion of the trip and the blog, you will never know.

The National Radio Quiet Zone (Click)

Green Bank, West Virginia, is surrounded by 13,000 square miles

First Encounters...2017

...We got to Green Bank Obs. Just after 9 and were the only earlybirds this day, so we got a private 50 minute tour. The 10:00 looked much more crowded, with close to 20 people. So, I was lucky and able to ask lots of nerd questions!

First sight of the big scope!

Green Bank Telescope - Largest steerable telescope in world. Keck.Telescope in HI - 10 meters, GBT 150- meters

Back inside, I visited a very nice science exhibit on radio astronomy...well done. I actually talked to the woman responsible for the displays and the education programs they work out with schools (I had contacted her months earlier about my visit)

Science!... Center - Nicely done.

Selfies are I AM pictures, but this is an I R picture

Nice steerable model of the big scope.