400 Years of the Telescope

Yesterday morning was a true Irish adventure story - making our way through the “scenic routes” of the Irish countryside on our way to Birr Castle in the middle of Ireland. We started out by eating a wonderful buffet-style breakfast at the Shannon Bunratty Shamrock Hotel’s PJs Restaurant and preparing ourselves for a long shooting day ahead. We checked out of the hotel and began our long journey towards the center of the country. We consulted our maps, under the helpful guidance of Mr. Donald Goldsmith, and even one very helpful gasoline station attendant who we decided would be great for films due to his wonderful accent in order to find our way across Ireland to Birr. After about 2 hours or so of driving among the narrow two-lane country roads (and after maybe 25 round-abouts), we finally scooted our little ford subcompact vehicle into the city of Birr in Offaly County. As we drove through the city of Birr, we saw many merchant shops resembling the cities we had passed through on our way there. Suddenly, we came upon the great cast-iron gate of Birr Castle grounds – we knew we had found the right place.

We stumbled into the Birr Scientific and Historical Center around 10am yesterday morning to meet John, one of the center’s tour guides and one of the most knowledgeable employees, who greeted us with a smile. He showed us around the giftshop and invited us to look at the historical archives of the center before we were to be led out to the Great Telescope on the castle grounds. We interviewed John on the history and the significance of the Great Telescope and the third Earl of Rosse’s discoveries made by the telescope. We were granted access behind the main gate of the barrier around the telescope and were able to use the telescope as a wonderful background for the interview. John told us that the Telescope was built in the mid 1800s and has been since renovated recently. In 1997, the Great Telescope was made more functional and up to date which gave the public a chance to finally view what Lord Rosse did in the mid-1800s when the telescope was first operational. According to John, the telescope was once again shut down in 2002 due to wear and tear of the piping on the telescope and since has not been moved and cannot be touched by the general public.

We were lucky enough yesterday to get to meet the seventh Earl of Rosse, Brendan Parsons. He currently lives in Birr Castle as his ancestors have for centuries and he let us in on some of the family’s treasured and cherished information. For example, Mary Rosse, the wife of the third earl of Rosse (builder of the Great Telescope) was one of the first photographers in history and possibly the first professional female photographer. Birr Castle has kept intact the darkroom that Mary used to develop her photographs. Her photography dates back to the mid-1800s to some of the earliest recorded photographs in history. Also, Lord Rosse showed us the metal and blue sash awarded to the third Earl of Rosse by Ireland for his scientific achievements. Finally, we were given a tour of the wonderfully interactive Birr science center’s science and history museum where some of the third Earl’s notes and drawings were on display. We were able to gain access to these documents in order to get digital recordings of their contents – what a treat!

We left the castle grounds around 2:40pm, bound once again for the Shannon Airport. Our flight back to London departed at 9:30pm last night, so we enjoyed the few hours of downtime to get a good meal and to relax before the long morning today at Stonehenge.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 02:15 AM | Permalink

The time and date today seem to be blurred with yesterday and vice-versa. From the time we loaded up the large beige/ gold SUV and trucked our gear to the San Francisco International Airport to the time when we retrieved (or reclaimed) or baggage at the Shannon Airport, we were in perpetual motion. The San Francico airport was bustling, airport entrance to boarding gate, and everyone seemed to want to either start their vacations or make their way back home in a hurry. We, on the other hand, were just beginning our 3-week whirlwind tour of Europe and were taking our time, triple checking our gear before our plane departed. The 10-hour flight from San Francisco to Heathrow Airport (London) allowed us to get one last good stint of sleep before the next few weeks of early mornings and late nights in some of the most scenic cities in the world. We met up with one of our writers, Donald Goldsmith at the Heathrow Airport prior to boarding our second flight of the day to Shannon, Ireland. We had a minor hiccup in our relatively smooth morning so far when Don’s luggage was suddenly missing at the baggage reclaim turnstyle. We’re still awaiting news from the airline as they are trying to track down and retrieve Don’s things.

Tonight we spent the evening enjoying the delicacies that Bunratty has to offer. We walked down the road, past an aging Irish Castle, to a small restaurant and pub called the “Dirty Nelly”. The bar doubles as an “Oyster Bar” where they serve, obviously, oysters in various different recipes. We sat upstairs at the restaurant at a corner table near a window and enjoyed a delicious Irish meal. A travel tip to the wise, order the rack of lamb, it is truly a wonderful treat! We talked about the production as the sound of bagpipes began floating through the window to our ears. That made our evening seem complete, the meal, the company, and the ambiance.

Today was a nice easing into the European culture. Unfortunately, the remainder of our production team will be standing in the dreaded line #51 in the San Francisco International Airport tonight and running through the trial by fire that said line will cause them as we enjoy our beautiful accommodations at the Bunratty Shannon Shamrock Hotel. Tomorrow morning, we head off two-hours into the country to Birr Castle where we will see the Great Telescope at Lord Rosse’s estate.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 03:04 PM | Permalink

The last day on Mauna Kea was a full one. We added to our already busy schedule an additional few hours at the CFHT to watch them prepare their primary mirror for cleaning and resurfacing. As Kris, Steve and Bruce interviewed Dr. Rolf Kudritzki, Krista went into the clean chamber, donned a white coat and shot some footage of the astronomers and engineers working on the cleaning and removal of the mirror's aluminum topcoat.

After the interview and acquisition of b-roll, the crew grabbed some lunch provided by the Hale Pohaku cooking staff. Then it was off to the Smithsonian-sponsored Submillimeter Array. At the Submillimeter Array, we interviewed Glenn Petitpas, an Astronomer and Engineer at the facility. We interviewed him in front of the array dishes that were spread out over the terrain of lava rock.

Following our interview and after grabbing some b-roll of the movement of the dishes, we made our final trek down the mountain. We then packed up our things and made our way down to Kona where we spent some time in the city before our flight. We made the necessary stop by Hilo Hattie's - the most inclusive tourist giftshop on the island. I think everyone got the necessary last-minute gifts for the special people back home during the hour that we were there. We also got to stop by Kona's boardwalk area where we got to look through the giftshops and make a quick visit by the Kona Inn restaurant. Around sunset, we arrived to the airport where, once we checked in, found out that our flight was delayed. This gave us more time to relax, de-stress and de-brief from the past week in Hawaii. Needless to say, we got home safe and sound from the island and we're now preparing for our next trip to Europe. We depart on Monday, so be patient as we spend the next few days packing and not blogging. Look for an update on Tuesday!

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 10:53 AM | Permalink

Another early morning awaited us as we rose from our beds at 5:15 am and began preparing for another long day of shooting. We were well rested and relaxed from Sunday’s adventures down on the beach, but now it was time to get back to business. Krista, Steve and Bruce headed up the mountain towards the CFHT this morning to catch the changing out of the telescope’s primary mirror while Kris stayed behind and worked on tweaking the script for the companion planetarium program we are developing. At CFHT, Bruce was allowed to put on his specially issued hard-hat and enter the dome to capture some footage of the engineers moving the mirror from the telecscope. Steve and Krista left the dome and spent the morning cruising around the summit capturing last-minute b-roll of the telescopes and the summit’s history. They even climbed the true summit to get a shot of the altar made at the top of the mountain. They got some great footage on their last full day on the island.

In the evening, it looked like another normal night for the crew. They returned to the Keck Observatory to get some shots of the interior with telescope movement. Laura Kinoshita was our guide once again and was very generous in allowing us to get footage inside the Observatory’s “mirror barn”, the room that houses, cleans and prepares the telescope’s mirrors. We also set up our plan-o-cam to catch our final sunset on Mauna Kea that turned out to be a beautiful one.

Our night’s finale was experienced by our producer, Kris Koenig, who took his digital 35mm camera up to the summit and took time-lapse pictures of some of the telescopes’ lasers. The lasers on the telescopes are used to either get rid of the sodium layer in the atmosphere or to create an “artificial star” which helps the telescope to focus its mirrors on a fixed point in the heavens. Gemini, Subaru and Keck all have laser systems that are regularly used. All would have gone perfectly well if he hadn’t gotten a flat tire of all things on the third switchback on his way up the mountain, while cruising and enjoying the beautiful night. He changed the tire and made it safely back to Hale Pohaku lodge, without his picture, but with a story for this blog.

Tomorrow will be our last day on the island. We will complete our week with one final interview with Dr. Rolf Kudritzki and our final drive up to the summit. Join us tomorrow for more of our island adventure.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 12:59 AM | Permalink

Yesterday was our long-awaited vacation from our hectic production schedule. We got to sleep in and travel down the mountain, the first time since we visited I’miloa Science Center last Monday. We left Hale Pohaku around 11am,our destination, the city of Waimea. In Waimea, we took a quick pit stop at the WM Keck Observatory headquarters. We attempted to get some footage of the building and the sign as well as the headquarters’ view of the summit. After leaving the Keck headquarters, we stopped by the local grocery mart and, of course, Starbucks where we got food for dinner and our caffeine fix.

We left Waimea, traveling southwest towards Kona to meet up with Laura and Kyle Kinoshita. Laura is the Public Information Officer at Keck Observatory and Kyle is the Observatory’s chief mechanical engineer. We met up with the couple and their young son, Ethan, at their home at Mauna Lani about 20 miles north of Kona. We were pampered to the max at the Kinoshita home. Bruce was given the opportunity to play a round of golf with Kyle at the resort’s course and Krista and Steve were allowed to take a few hours to go down to the beach and swim and snorkel. The evening was topped off by a wonderful meal prepared by Laura that was served on the house’s patio, facing out to the golf course. It was a relaxing and refreshing afternoon! Now it’s back to work!

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 10:16 AM | Permalink

It’s pretty cold on Mauna Kea at 5am in the morning as you wait for the sunrise. Yesterday morning’s summit excursion to retrieve our producer, Kris Koenig’s 35mm camera found ourselves freezing in the Mauna Kea wind chill atop the mountain. In a spontaneous decision on the parts of our Director of Photography, Steve Chollet, and myself we decided to trek down the 6 miles from the summit of Mauna Kea. What a challenging and frosty path at 6am. We did, however, make it back to Hale Pohaku base camp for breakfast by 8:30am.

Our workday did not really begin until 5pm when we were scheduled to return to the Subaru Telescope to catch the sunset and the opening of the dome for the Plan-O-Cam and some additional b-roll. Dr. Saeko Hayashi of the facility who helped us to time and coordinate the recording of the sunset once again accompanied us. Mr. Shawn Laatsch of the I’miloa Science Center joined us on this shoot. Shawn helped us to set up the Plan-O-Cam and tote our gear in and out of the telescope facility. Thanks to Shawn and Saeko, our return trip to the Subaru Telescope was a success.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 09:14 AM | Permalink

Second day on the mountain began a bit more slowly than the previous day. Our first interview was not scheduled until 3pm, so we took most of the morning to catch up on sleep and e-mails and to also enjoy the fine cuisine of the Hale Pohaku dining services. During our extended morning, the crew trekked out around the Hale Pohaku base camp scouting the trails and seeking out some of the Hawaiian shrines that are located around the mountain. Mauna Kea is considered sacred to the native Hawaiians as an elder ancestor and the physical embodiment (or kinolau) of deities revered in Hawaiian culture and religion. Mauna Kea, it is said, is where the Sky and Earth separated to form the Great-Expanse-of-Space and the Heavenly realms. The summit of Mauna Kea is also home to close to a hundred archaeological sites and many traditional cultural properties eligible for listing in National Register of Historic Places. We have come to understand a little of why the Hawaiian people consider the mountain extremely sacred. When driving up to the summit each day, we are blown away by the view of the island at 10,000 and then 13,000 feet. Of course the dark, star filled sky reveal why the summit separates the Earth from the Heavenly realms.

Around 1pm, we began our ascent of the mountain, the six-mile ride to the summit of Mauna Kea. Our destinations today: the Twin Keck Telescopes and the Canadian-French-Hawaiian Telescope. As we approached the Keck facility, we scouted out some outdoor filming possibilities. We wanted to get an outdoor shot of the Keck domes to catch the spectacular view as well as try something we hadn’t done before for this program, an outdoor interview. We met Dr. Taft Armandroff, Director of the W.M. Keck Facility, at the front of the NASA telescope facility, right across the road from the Keck facility. We had seen him a few hours earlier in the Hale Pohaku dining area where we introduced ourselves to him as he was departing the hall to return to the facility. Dr. Armandroff spoke to us about the technical advances of having multiple telescopes at one site and even predicted the next wave of telescope technologies. Following the interview, we had about an hour to spare before we were to arrive at our second location for the day. We were lucky enough to be escorted by Laura Kinoshita of the Keck Observatory through the first of the two Keck domes. The large dome was full of exciting new technologies, including one “shed” that housed the imaging technology used to seek out planets around stars. We will return to the observatory on Monday afternoon to film some additional footage of the telescope movements and some equipment change outs.

We departed the Keck facility around 3:30pm and drove the half-mile up the hill to the CFH Telescope that is housed next to the Gemini Observatory, one of our stops yesterday. The CFH Telescope facility is a joint astronomical contribution combining the minds of Canada, France and Hawaii. The CFHT was the first large-scale telescope to be built atop Mauna Kea. The facility was built in the late 1970s and saw its first light in 1979. The reflecting telescope features a single 3.6-meter mirror, much like the Mayall Telescope on Kitt Peak. Our guide on this observatory tour was Dr. Christian Veillet, the Director of the CFHT, whom we interviewed and talked to about the history of astronomy in France and also at the CFHT on the summit. Our tours of these two facilities, though built in different astronomical eras, still work together towards the same goals. CFHT’s wide-field imaging data is used to help telescopes like the Keck telescopes to pinpoint areas of the sky that should be looked at in more detail. This joint effort exemplifies the camaraderie between institutions and research astronomers.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 02:27 PM | Permalink

The sky is beginning to clear here in Hawaii after the passing of hurricane Flossie. Yesterday, we once again packed our things at HP base camp at 10, 000 feet, this time making sure we remembered our sunglasses, sunscreen, gloves, beanies and coats. We were headed up the mount to the summit of Mauna Kea. The six-mile drive (another 3,000 feet in elevation) up to the summit held for us about 30 switchbacks over a rocky two-lane pass that went straight up the mountain. As we emerged onto the summit’s plateau, we saw the string of telescope domes rising up over the mountain pass.

Even with the cloud cover and the fog that obstructed some of the view of the rest of the island from the top of Mauna Kea, we were all blown away at the view from the summit. The clouds had begun to drop in elevation and bits of the blue sky were beginning to emerge. The tops of close peaks and cinder cones were visible through the passing fog, creating an eerie, but serene environment.

After making a quick pit stop at the ranger station to pick up snacks and some extra bottles of water, we were off to our first stop of the day, the Subaru Telescope. Dr. Saeko Hayashi, who had graciously set up for us an interview with the telescope’s director, Dr. Masahiko Hayashi, and offered to show us around the telescope facility, greeted us at the main building. We were lucky enough during our visit to the telescope to see the changing out of some of the telescope’s secondary instrumentation package. This is the point where the light that the primary mirror reflects and focuses. Normally, this light is then reflected to a third point where a detector is positioned – normally at the rear of the telescope. Subaru is the only 8 -10 meter class telescope that can place a large, widefield CCD detector at this position. This feature has allowed the Subaru telescope to image the youngest galaxies only twelve billion light years away (for more information, see http://www.naoj.org/Pressrelease/2005/12/21/index.html). Some of the telescope facility’s engineers orchestrated the delicate “change-out” process with the help of robotic technology. Even assisted by the robotic system this is a very dangerous exercise for he technicians as they work 60’+ above the observatory floor.

The interview with Subaru’s director went wonderfully. His passion for Astronomy and the progress being made at the facility was made clear by his explanation of the technology Subaru was bringing to the astronomical world. He even explained some of the processes of the facility in Japanese that may become part of our website for our international visitors.

After capturing movement of the bright blue Subaru telescope, we moved onto our second stop of the day, the Gemini North Facility, right up the hill from Subaru. Scott Fisher, educational outreach officer at Gemini North, greeted us and helped us to get acquainted with our filming environment by giving us a quick tour. We entered the dome as they began doing some movements on the telescope and Scott pointed out to us some of the unique characteristics of the telescope. In particular, the telescope features the ability to change instruments very quickly by mounting multiple instruments on the telescope itself. Compared to other telescopes, this convenience helps observers to get readings during nights when the weather or observing conditions suddenly change. As sunset approached, we set up a two-camera view of the opening of the dome as well as used the plan-o-cam to capture the spectacular view from below the great telescope. We definitely captured the passion and the advancement of astronomy through our interviews and our visits to the two observatories. Both gave us perspective on where we are in our current understanding of the universe and gave us predictions on what to look forward to in the future of astronomy.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 01:16 PM | Permalink

We woke to the cloudy residue of hurricane Flossy that past the Big Island during the night. From our 10,000’ location at HP we seemed to be floating in a sea of clouds. Above us the summit was covered in fog and below us a thick sheet of vapor forming a carpet of white that stretched across to all points on the horizon. We were not going to be shooting at the summit today. Instead we packed up the gear and headed down the mountain to the town of Hilo and an interview with Danish astronomer Bo Reipurth of the Institute for Astronomy.

We pulled into the I’miloa Science Center around 11:00 and walked into the beautiful lobby, complete with mosaic flooring, and were greeted by Shawn Laatsch and his associate, Sharon. We were invited to see the MaunaKea: Between Earth and Sky planetarium show. We enjoyed the full-dome experience that the planetarium provided and saw in our mind’s eye how our planned show would appear on the dome.

The computer graphics that made up most of this show gave our production team some interesting ideas for video movement to try with our plan-o-cam. We also realized how careful we needed to be not to make our viewers sick from excessive movement. After the show, Shawn showed our production team some examples of previews for other planetarium shows followed by a wonderful lunch provided by the I’miloa Café within the science center.

Between our meeting with Shawn and our interview scheduled at 4:30pm with Bo Reipurth, Astronomer from the University of Hawaii, we walked over to the offices of the various observatories that we will be taping atop Mauna Kea later in the week. We thanked the dedicated public information officers for their continued generosity and their assistance in creating our schedule for this week.

Dr. Reipurth arrived to the Science Center right on time and we immediately jumped into the content of his interview. He recounted the life and times of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe with pride, being a fellow “Dane” himself. Brahe was one of the first “observational” astronomers who questioned the theories of past philosophers and sought to understand how the heavens worked. He was the prototype for the modern astronomer.

All-in-all, the day was a success. We got a mini-tour of Hilo. We learned about Hawaii’s cultural and astronomical histories from the I’miloa Science Center and we enjoyed an educational interview with Dr. Bo Reipurth with his humanistic view of the life of Tycho Brahe.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 12:27 PM | Permalink

I am usually not a fan of airports, but when we arrived at San Francisco International this morning, I was fairly optimistic of the travel conditions based on my observation that the terminal was rather empty. A little over an hour later, stuck in the “Odd-sized baggage” line, line number 51, that optimism had severely diminished.

Once we got our boarding passes and passed security inspection, we had a few quick moments to spare before boarding for our 8:55 departure. Everyone within the cabin was seeking seats on our side of the plane in hopes of catching a glimpse of the hurricane as we approached the Big Island. Sadly, the hurricane view was not as dramatic as we had hoped and we reached the Kona airport with minimal turbulence. The only “shake-up” we encountered was caused by the flight crew’s announcement that some of the baggage had not made it onto the plane from San Francisco upon
departure. The production team, especially our producer, was a bit upset at the potential hassle caused by not having our equipment for tomorrow's shoot, until the safe recovery of all of our baggage alleviated our worries.

From the Kona airport, we picked up our rental car, played "reality" Tetris in fitting all of our baggage
into the trunk and headed up the mountain. The changes in climate and terrain up to the10,000' Mauna Kea Base camp known as Hale Polaku (HP),our home for the next seven nights, were so distinct and varied. I had a blast just speeding along the rolling hills through pine trees, grass valleys, farmland and even some desolate cooled lava flows while we all hoped we got to our destination before any of the rain and wind from hurricane Flossie hit us.

Upon arrival to HP, we received our room keys and were escorted to our cabin to unpack and get
prepared for our week. We also took the opportunity before dinner to parooze the visitor’s center where we looked at all the goodies we will have the opportunity to purchase for our loved ones back home. The evening concluded with us sitting in the lodge, checking our e-mails from the day and adjusting to the altitude. Tomorrow, it’s back down the mountain to Hilo!

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 10:36 PM | Permalink

Jennifer Oman, Communications Specialist, has implemented city and county-wide multi-media outreach campaigns. She has experience in public relations, event coordination, promotional writing, grant writing, and education. Jennifer's background in the arts has served her well in the oversight of the development of media products, and the coordination of artists, graphic designers, and broadcast media specialists.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 08:29 PM | Permalink

Harley Wettemann lead web and graphics designer at Interstellar Studios graduated CSU Chico with a BS in graphics design and animations and is currently working on his Masters in Internet Technology. Harley has produced and managed many unique web sites over the past eight years. Harley continues to learning and expanding his knowledge of web and graphics design to keep up with the ever-changing market place.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 09:04 AM | Permalink

Krista Shelby is the new kid in town – working hard as Interstellar Studios’ production assistant and production coordinator on the “400 Years of the Telescope” project. Krista is a third year student at UC Irvine in southern California, majoring in Film and Media Studies. She has worked on a variety of small production projects through college, including two short films and numerous pop-culture parodies starring her peers and family. She has written, produced and edited all of her own work with her trusty Apple laptop and editing software, including Final Cut Pro. As Production Assistant at Interstellar Studios, Krista looks forward to learning the ropes to the roles of videographer and editor.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 09:04 AM | Permalink

Bruce Coykendall is an audio/video professional with over 20 years experience in production, post-production and technical editorial writing.
With a BA in music and recording arts from CSUC Bruce was Chief Engineer at Cloud Nine Recording Studios for seven years producing, recording and mastering music and commercial audio. Bruce was Technical Editor and currently writes product reviews for VideoMaker Magazine, a publication with global distribution. Bruce co-produced and edited National commercial and short form video documentaries for the Award Winning H.L. Ward Advertising Agency. As a member of MC2 Design Group Bruce produced and edited public service announcements and wrote technical news letters for The Nature Conservancy’s Sacramento River Project. Bruce was a video producer for regional FOX affiliate and produced and recorded the live in the studio music series Real Music. Bruce is currently the owner of KestrelView Productions in Chico California and is providing editorial services for the PBS Tele course, Astronomy Observations and Theories for Coast Learning Systems. Bruce’s has extensive field videography, lighting and field audio production. Video editorial experience and tools encompass Avid Media Composer, Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects and related adobe products, with post-production audio expertise in Digidesign ProTools and Digital Performer.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 09:03 AM | Permalink

Steve Chollet is a multi-award winning media design
professional. His achievements include numerous local and
regional advertising awards as well as the 2005 L.A. Area Emmy Award
in instructional programming for the series, Astronomy: Observations &
Theories, for which he was the associate producer, as well as editor
and graphic designer. Steve owns the company, Synergy {design:produce:post}, and is proud to serve its clients with a wide range of professional, cutting edge
media solutions, including: 24p high definition cinematography, location
sound, film & video editorial, post-production services, sound design,
scoring, graphic design and website development. In addition to in-
house services, Synergy is proud to be affiliated with a number of other design professionals capable of delivering creative media solutions of any size and budget.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 09:03 AM | Permalink

Anita Berkow is an enterprising person when it comes to video production. She lives for live shoots and getting into the community affairs with her camera in-hand. Anita has had extensive experience with video production as a videographer on the Sierra Center Stage series, a program that spotlights the Chico community’s musical atmosphere through Sierra Nevada Brewery’s Big Room. Anita has also been a videographer and editor for the “English Composition: Writing for an Audience” course taught through Annenberg Media. At Interstellar Studios, Anita has been a videographer for the “Hey Bum, Get a Job” program due to air on public broadcasting during Summer 2007.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 09:02 AM | Permalink

Kris Koenig is a video producer from the ground up. His knowledge and expertise for interviewing, camera work, lighting, editing, and production management culminated as the producer and writer of the ten-hour PBS telecourse "Astronomy: Observations and Theories" for which he won two Emmy® awards – Instructional Programming and Outstanding Non-news Writer. His work has taken him all over the world including most of the major observatories in the western hemisphere. Non-astronomical productions have included traveling to China and Europe to produce k-12 educational videos. His footage has also been used in National Geographic productions. Kris’ has also produced unique and effective interactive kiosk for Canon USA, Celestron, Fry’s Electronics and W. M. Keck Observatory. His astrophotography graces the covers of national acclaimed astronomical texts books and appears in various publications and videos. In his limited spare time Kris directs one of the most successful community observatories in the country. He is now in production on a documentary of the history of the telescope "400 Years of the Telescope".

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 09:01 AM | Permalink

Back from nearly 3 weeks on the road, being back in Chico is a sure homecoming. After returning last Monday from the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton in San Jose, they have been tirelessly working in the office while trying to get back to a normal eating and sleeping schedule. As they break from their first round of location shoots and interviews, let us give you a chance to meet the crew. You’ve seen some of their faces, but you have no idea what they’re all about. They might surprise you. Come along and meet the “400 Years of the Telescope” Production Crew! Check in every day to meet another member of the Interstellar Studios family.

Day 1: Dan Koehler

Dan Koehler brings a life long love of astronomy, a MBA in Finance, 10 years experience of print media with Kalmbach publishing’s Astronomy magazine, and as seven years as banker for Chase and Wells Fargo banks. This mix of experience makes Dan an excellent executive producer with an understanding of both the creative process as well as the financial. Dan Koehler and Kris Koenig formed Interstellar Studios to bridge their joint interest in astronomy and media, producing popular astronomically-based content that entertains and educates the public on the wonders of space.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 01:34 PM | Permalink

Following our Monday visit to the Lick Observatory, we decided to do some research regarding the history of the site. As we dug deeper and deeper into the historical archives of Lick, we found some interesting location facts and historical figures that we thought should be shared.

As you now know, the Lick Observatory is home to the world’s second largest lens-type telescope, the 36-inch Clark refractor. The world-renowned astronomer, Edward Emerson (“E.E.”) Barnard, was an observer and photographer at Lick after the observatory opened in the late 1880’s. To this day, Barnard is considered one of the finest visual astronomical observers of all time, and a pioneer in the use of telescopes and lenses for astronomical photography.

Born in 1857, Barnard grew up in Nashville, TN during the Civil War. His father died when Edward was very young. Raised by his mother in a very poor home environment, Edward was essentially self-educated. He did attend Vanderbilt University as a young man. His interests turned to two pursuits at an early age that would serve him well throughout his lifetime. One was visual observations with small refracting telescopes; the other was photography. After the war Edward worked for a time for a local photographer in Nashville. A little later, he began his celebrated observing and photographic career at the Vanderbilt University Observatory.

At Vanderbilt in the 1870’s and 1880’s, Barnard made thousands of recorded observations of all types of celestial objects and events from a solar eclipse, to the rings of Saturn, to the Great Red Spot on the planet Jupiter, to what are today known collectively as “deep sky objects” – star clusters, gaseous nebulae, and “spiral nebulae” – the latter of which we now call galaxies. He discovered several comets during this time. Barnard caught the attention of professional astronomers from around the country and the world for his keen observing abilities and beautifully detailed drawings of the objects he viewed through telescopes. While he continued to make hand sketches of his observations in notebooks his entire life, it was his love of photographing through the telescope that made Barnard especially famous.

In 1887 he and his wife Rhoda moved from Nashville to Mount Hamilton, the location of the Lick Observatory. It was at Lick that Barnard greatly sharpened his observing and photography skills beneath the often pristine skies of Mount Hamilton. In 1888 Edward started the first of what would be thousands more observations and drawings, and began taking the first of thousands of photographic plates with the Lick 12-inch and 36-inch refractors. The 36-inch refractor was, at the time, the world’s largest working telescope, and Barnard observed and photographed with it nearly every night the sky was clear.

Among his many important observations, Barnard made a significant discovery in 1892 with the 36-inch Lick refractor by identifying the fifth moon of Jupiter, later called Amalthea. The first four Jovian moons, Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede are collective called the “Galilean Satellites” in honor of Galileo who first observed them with his early telescope in 1609 and correctly identified them as orbiting about the planet. Barnard was the first person in over 280 years to discover a new moon around Jupiter. Today, with the benefit of sophisticated electronic imaging and massive telescopes including the Hubble Space Telescope, and numerous visits by spacecraft, astronomers have identified at least 63 moons orbiting Jupiter. Most of these moons are far too small and faint to see with ground-based instruments.

Edward left the Lick Observatory in 1895 and headed east once again, this time to work as a visual observer and photographer at the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI, home of the largest refracting telescope ever built – the 40-inch Clark. The telescope is owned and operated to this day by the University of Chicago. Edward worked there until his death in 1923.

Barnard is probably best known for his famous detailed photographs of the Milky Way. He published three volumes in total of his Milky Way photos. The first set was taken at Lick with a six-inch diameter lens attached to a special telescope during his tenure on Mt. Hamilton. The pictures were finally published in 1913 as the eleventh volume of the Publications of the Lick Observatory. The book includes some photos of comets. The second group of photos was taken at the Mt. Wilson Observatory in southern California in the early part of the 20th century with a special photographic telescope designed specifically for that purpose. Barnard was a notorious perfectionist. He was disappointed with the reproductions of his Lick photos even after many attempts over almost 20 years to print high-quality copies. While he wanted desperately to publish his Mt. Wilson photographs he insisted that the reproductions be as true to the originals as possible. Edward worked tirelessly for years with various printers in and around the Chicago area to perfect techniques that would achieve his goals. The result was a stunningly beautiful two-volume set known as An Atlas of Selected Regions of the Milky Way, unfortunately published in 1927, well after Barnard’s death. It was a ground-breaking work and created a standard for future astrophotographers to achieve. Only 500 sets of the Atlas were printed and most landed in college, university and observatory libraries. Occasionally today sets will become available for sale, usually at prices starting around $5,000.

Knowing about the history and the shared experiences of so many scientists, past and present, has helped to enrich our appreciation of the Observatory and we hope that it will do the same for you.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 05:36 PM | Permalink

“Are we there yet?” was the primary thought running through the production crew’s heads as we headed up Mount Hamilton in San Jose on our way to the Lick Observatory. After a long morning drive from Chico to Berkeley to pick up Donald Goldsmith, one of our project’s Co-Writers, we were on the road for another two hours before we reached the summit of Mount Hamilton. We risked our lives as we encountered an armed standoff on the other side of the freeway while driving through the Oakland area. Apparently, someone thought it was smart to stop the traffic on the side of the road the police dispute was on, but nobody thought of stopping our side while police firearms were pointed in our direction.

Forget Mulhulland Drive…. someone had heard the crazy rumor that there were over 360 curves on the windy highway road up the mountain. I’m not sure if it’s true, but I gave up counting around 73 curves about 3 minutes ascent up the mountain. There were just too many to count. Halfway up the mountain, we stopped to take an establishing shot of the Observatory from across the valley. As we stepped from our vehicles, we stumbled upon an abandoned car about 30 feet down into the gulley below. Our Audio Engineer, Bruce Coykendall, made his way down into the steep gully, trying his best to avoid slipping on the piles of loose leaves just to see if anyone was hurt or trapped. What a hero! Thankfully, nobody was found in the car, but we still called the case into the police who later towed the car from the gully while we were up on the mountain.

As we reached the summit, all of us were amazed by the view. Even with the city smog below, the view of San Jose was spectacular from the front entrance of the Lick Observatory. Lick’s Observatory was built near the turn of the century nearly 110 years ago. The smallest dome, the first stop on our whirlwind tour of the Observatory, was built in 1881 and boy was it in good condition. The building is on a small hill right down the main road from the visitor’s center of the Observatory. This dome was home to the observatory’s 12-inch telescope which jumpstarted the Observatory’s scientific research nearly seven years before the Observatory’s famous Great Refractor ever saw its first light. Within the small dome, we were met with a very old telescope, which from some of our video footage, doesn’t resemble a telescope from many angles. We had fun with our guide, Remington Stone, who showed us the retro-mechanics that turn-of-the-century Observatories used. We then moved back over to the Observatory’s main building where we were allowed to see the Great Refractor Telescope housed in the larger dome attached to the building. The dome was beautiful! With hardwood floors that elevated up and down about 12 feet so that observers could easily reach the hallway to the main building as well as the telescope’s eyepiece. The most interesting fact about this dome in my opinion was the fact that James Lick himself is buried in a coffin below the telescope’s pier. When we arrived, flowers were lying next to a placard in the tomb, which had written upon it James Lick’s name as well as his birth date, and the day he passed on. It was an honor to see the sight.

As sunset came upon us, we took footage and still shots while beautiful light entered the dome. At dark, our guide was kind enough to allow us the opportunity to look through the Great Refractor at Jupiter. Remington described how the colors seen through the lens are called chromatic aberrations and that the amount of colors/aberrations is determined by the number of lenses in a refracting telescope. This has been a key issue in developing large telescopes which will be discussed through other parts of our production. The evening concluded with a few shots of the gorgeous rising moon and a few moments look over the city of San Jose.

Posted by 400 Years of the Telescope at 08:05 AM | Permalink