I'll provide more pictures later...

                So, there has to be a reason for me to be sent out to Arizona to use a telescope. The instrument I'm using is a spectrograph, an instrument that "splits" light up like a prism does (it makes a pretty rainbow). When we use a spectrograph with light from a star, the light is split up in a rainbow, but there are features in that light - because a star has a lot of hydrogen in it, astronomers see a hydrogen "signature". There are other signatures from other elements too. Spectroscopy is an extraordinarily important tool for astronomers. If you want to know more about this kind of stuff, you might try this site (it's more than you probably need to know).
                Anyways, I'm using a spectrograph and I was supposed to be looking at a few particular objects. The plan was that I carry out observations simultaneously with the Hubble Space Telescope. The only problem is that one of the instruments, the very one we were using (STIS), completely failed (look at that HST link). So, we had to modify the plans and now I'm looking at completely different objects.
                Our new plan is to look at 120 different stars. These stars are special ones - Be stars (pronounced "BEE-eee"). "B" is for the spectral class (it's a hot big young star), "e" stands for "emission" - emission is special because most stars show only absorption. So, I'll take one or two (maybe three) spectra of each one. Someone sometime will mess around with the data :) It may or may not be me - I want my next project to be working with galaxies...

Here is a page from an astronomer that has spent lots of time at KPNO (I actually met him here) - he has a bunch of science too, but many good pictures of the telescopes.

A Rough Timeline:

Sunday, August 15, 2004
- 8:40 a.m. - plane took off
- 9:42 a.m. (Tucson time - 3 hours later than ATL) - plane landed
- 12:30 p.m. - got to KPNO, messed around, met my telescope and set it up :)
- weather doesn't look very good... I get to watch Olympics!! :)
- 7:15 p.m. - we go to observe, but alas, much lightning and threatening clouds shut us down - Dave let me go watch Olympics :) - not all the sky is covered - it is GORGEOUS out here - so clear and the sky is calm - the stars are so brilliant :)
- 11:30 p.m. - THE CALL!! Gotta go back to observe
- 4:00 a.m. - THE CALL!! We have to shut down - good thing anyways, almost dawn. Got 24 stars
- 4:30 a.m. - finally got to bed - up for 26 hours straight. Silly Erika
My musical selections for the night: The Beatles - 1 ; Paul Simon - Graceland

Monday, August 16, 2004
- 10:15 a.m. - I'm up :( Dammit. Tired.
- 1:00 p.m. - after lunch, I start to watch major Olympics :) Also rewrote an astronomy lab
- 7:10 p.m. - alas, I am wrenched away from my precious Olympics :( Observing...
- 8:45 p.m. - THE CALL!! we must close - subsequently, I seem to have broken the telescope - it seems I hit the panic stop and we couldn't figure out how to fix it :( Had to call someone.
- 9:35 p.m. - scope is reset and we get back to work
- 11:45 p.m. - I get to have my night lunch and an infusion of Olympics :)
- 4:20 a.m. - stop observing due to the rising of the Sun. Got 43 stars
- 4:45 a.m. - ahhh, blessed sleep :)
My musical selections for the night: Forrest Gump soundtrack - both 1 and 2 ; Shakira - Laundry Service (I'm not sure Dave liked it) ; U2 - Best of 1980-90 ; Sting - Mercury Falling

Tuesday, August 17, 2004
- 10:00 a.m. - I'm up - I have an appointment :)
- 11:00 a.m. - Dave and I leave to go down to Tucson
- 12:30 p.m. - Get to University of Arizona - Steward Observatory so I can meet with an education dude (Ed) I met at the Cosmos in the Classroom conference
- had lunch and went on a motorcycle ride - he has an Aprilia :) We talked astronomy education
- 3:30 p.m. - met Dave and we started back to the mountain
- 7:15 p.m. - up to the telescope and set up. Weather sucky, so Dave let me go watch my obsession :)
- 9:35 p.m. - THE CALL!! back to the scope...
- 4:30 a.m. - finally shutting down!! Oh god, so tired... Got 26 stars - only 27 left to get!
- 5:00 a.m. - beddy-bye!!
My musical selections for the night: none!!

Wednesday, August 18, 2004
- 11:00 a.m. - I'm up
- 12:30 p.m. - Dave Wingert leaves me on my own - he sez I'll do great :)
- I just meander around looking at the mountain and the visitor's center and just explore - I of course watch an hour or two of Olympics :)
- 7:15 p.m. - up to the telescope to set it up for the night, get word it's okay to open - I did, however, have some difficulties - I was just being unobservant
- 8:45 p.m. - THE CALL!! There are some really big storms to the north and east - lots of lightning - the guy who decides agreed to call me in the TV lounge so I can feed my addiction :)
- 11:00 p.m. - THE CALL!! Back to work... Did something dumb again but got running again quickly
- 5:15 a.m. - I finally stopped - dawn approached - I still felt pretty dang good at the end of the night - maybe I'm adjusted or maybe the music really helps! Got 38 stars
- 5:40 a.m. - to bed, to bed...
My musical selection for the night: Queen - Greatest Hits (maroon) ; Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes ; They Might Be Giants - Mink Car ; Billy Joel - River of Dreams ; Norah Jones - Come Away With Me

Thursday, August 19, 2004
- 12:10 p.m. - got up and rushed to lunch (I can't go on without lunch!)
- 3:30 p.m. - started the hike to the 4-meter telescope where I got a tour from the observers there - way huge!! You just can't get perspective on how very large the dome is unless you see people next to it.
- 7:00 p.m. - up to my telescope to get set up and stuff - no cloud problems tonight!! :) The sunset was ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS - beautiful dusty pinks, purples, and blues. The crescent moon was lovely as well. Damn I wish I had a camera :(
- 7:45 p.m. - got going on my program stars - it's dark enough now
- 5:30 a.m. - finally stopped - it definately is light out. Got 49 stars
My musical selections for tonight: Burned by Ian - Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Stones, Wallflowers and DYLAN ; Sting - Brand New Day ; my honey on the phone ; Jesus Christ Superstar (movie version) ; Michael Jackson - Thriller ; Manu Chao - Clandestino

Friday, August 20, 2004
- 11:10 a.m. - Dammit, I'm up :( Why can't I sleep late enough? Maybe because it's 2:10 p.m. in Atlanta - the transition is going to suck! - I wandered...
- 4:15 p.m. - while meandering and trying to find Ellyn a rock, I encountered Darryl who offered to take me on a tour of the 3.5-meter WIYN telescope :) It's design is MUCH different from other, older scopes I've seen - less material, more ventilation...
- 5:00 p.m. - supper-time!
- 7:00 p.m. - up to the scope - another GORGEOUS sunset - I could get used to this
- 7:43 p.m. - started up!
- 1:00 a.m. - went to get my night lunch in the dining hall and when I got back, I discovered I had no key and the door wasn't unlocked (an uncommon thing at night)! Well, I tried a couple of other doors and one was open!! :)
- 5:22 a.m. - stopped due to brightness - I can definately see the nights getting longer as we head toward winter! Got 68 stars!!! :)
- since it's my last night, I have to do a bunch of stuff like save my data and stuff.
My soundtrack for tonight: U2 - Best of 1990-2000 ; Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory ; The Tannahill Weavers - Capernaum ; my guy on the phone :) ; Sting & The Police - The Very Best Of... ; Tori Amos - Boys for Pele ; Michael Jackson - HIStory Part 1 Disc 1 ; Bloodhound Gang - One Fierce Beer Coaster

Tips for future observing runs and for other people
- sleep
- bring a camera!!! Most observatories are in beautiful areas and mountains are always picturesque (my camera is dead right now)
- bring a laptop with ethernet card!!! You can never be sure of the quality of computers, but they all have ethernet cables
- bring some painkillers - observing with a headache is pure torture - I narrowly avoided said hell by finding a kindly observer with some
- bring CDs or some kind of music - most places have CD players
- talk to the people on the mountain - you may get some good tours - be warned though, some are nerdy shy types, but very nice :)
- become known for something - for instance, I am the rabid Olympics watcher :)
- it gets really, really hard to stay awake after a while. Ohmigod.