The Window Seat!

Sorry I've been missing... I don't intend to go 3 weeks between blog posts, just a lot less inspired these days than I used to... Always intend to do better - I've got 3 or 4 I WANT to write, just seems something more important comes up, even if it is sitting watching a movie on TV!

I've been at "Ketelsen East" for weeks now, and the trip up was quite spectacular! Perfect weather for the first half of the trip, and I took nearly 200 frames on the flight. Of course, a lot of those were for stereo pairs, so sometimes took 2 or 3 as we flew along for a good baseline for clouds or features on the ground.


The flight was delayed - the plane came in late. The Chicago noon flight originates there in Illinois, then returns on the flight I take. Once we took off (about 20 minutes late) I could tell the pilot was intending to make up time as he turned northeast immediately! Usually we take off towards the SE and sometimes go 80 miles or more before heading towards the NE, but even shortly after takeoff we flew over the "Boneyard" of the Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group (AMARG) stores over 4,000 planes for long-term storage for possible return to service or for use in parts for planes in use. At left is one view of part of the storage facility, and at right, a second frame is added from a couple seconds later to make an anaglyph stereo pair (red/blue glasses needed to see the 3D!). For reference, I've never flown over it before - my first indication that we had started our northward journey early!


I usually book the left-side window so that I'm not looking or shooting into the sun. That means going towards Chicago Mount Graham and the LBT telescope are some distance out my window. We've been as far as south of Willcox, so it can be as far as 20 miles or more away. I was suspicious when I couldn't spot it and suddenly it appeared almost straight down below me! I could barely catch it without the observatory partially blocked by my window frame! Shown at left is a wide shot of the 3 telescopes atop the mountain. The mountain road up from near Safford (east side of the mountain) winds west past the Observatory, then snakes up the slope from the west as shown here. Then at right is shown the stereo anaglyph that reveals the telescopes "popping out" from the peak, and the local terrain as well as the winding road climbing the hill.


Shown here is a close-up of the Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) which consists of the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in the large rectangular structure, the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope (VATT) at left, and the Sub-Millimeter Radio Telescope (SMT) between them. Interestingly, I did a substantial amount of work on all three of the telescopes! Also recently in the news, the SMT was recently one of the telescopes that added data to image the black hole in the galaxy Messier 87! And of course, another 3D image as above, starting to show some of the topography of the east side of the mountain as well...

I think this is about the first time I've been able to get a good look at the mountaintop since the big fires there a couple years ago. It looks to have pretty much decimated the stands of trees atop Graham other than the well-defended area around the observatory. Go to the link to see the amazing footage of a DC-10 dropping retardant on the fire which all but saved the Observatory!


Another 30 miles past the Observatory is another feature usually seen some distance away - the largest open-pit copper mine in the western hemisphere - 740 million pounds was refined in 2017, and employed over 3,000 people! This time, again we flew pretty much right over it, and a pair of frames a few seconds apart show good stereo results, as shown in the image at right...

According to references in Wikipedia, it has ore reserves of 3.2 billion tons grading at about .2%, so 500 pounds of ore must be processed to return a pound of pure copper! From an industry paper describing the operation, it is the largest application of leaching/solvent extraction operations in the world. The leaching fields are not well shown in these images (out of frame to lower left), but the pits are shown well and give a great 3D effect in the anaglyph at right...



Shortly after the mine, I got lost... We typically pass over the VLA radio telescope array in west-central New Mexico, but I never saw it - likely off the right side of the plane. Also never seen was Albuquerque - another waypoint I usually always spot. Another indication that we were north of the usual path taken. What I did spot was some interesting terrain NE of the Morenci mine - likely in the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico. There are some striking canyons seen before there, and while these weren't exactly the same landforms, that's what I'm calling them! They make an interesting 3D view at left...

When lost, you look for something striking to try to identify from Google Maps. After not seeing Albuquerque, I spotted some contrasting dark and light landforms. A quick look online found it - the towns of Milan and Grants in north-Central New Mexico, shown at right.



A few minutes later another interesting shot - northern New Mexico, like the area around Flagstaff in northern Arizona, is full of volcanic features. We passed over a distinctive peak that otherwise defied description. I think it is Cerro Alesna. It is described as a "volcanic neck", which I believe is the remnants of a lava plug in the volcano, then the volcano eroded away, leaving the remarkable outline. Baboquivari south of Kitt Peak where I've spend many hours gazing, is a similar form and also quite striking. The peak part here is so dark it is difficult to see details in the 3D image, but you get the idea... Straight shot at left, 3D at right...




I got lost again - easy to do in southern Colorado with the southern Rocky Mountains... Again, was looking for something striking to find on a map and once clear of the mountains, found this colorful set of catchment ponds at the south end of a city on the eastern edge of the mountains. Yes, it was Colorado Springs, and the catchment ponds (bright yellow, orange and white) are associate with the Nixon coal-fired power plant near the small town Fountain. On the upper left of the frame at left, which is the bottom of the next frame at right is the landing strip for the Butts Army Air Field serving Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, which is the metropolitan area snuggled up against the Rockies in the photo at right...



Colorado is a big, mostly featureless state - at least the eastern half. So I got lost again. I saw a huge windmill farm that seemed to go on for many miles (and minutes of flying time at 500mph!), but windmill turbines are difficult to locate on Google maps, especially if they are new and maps are not! It wasn't until another 20 minutes till I saw another positive landmark, easy to spot on the Google maps - a big reservoir! A long straight one, then followed by another a few minutes later. Couldn't find anything in Kansas (the usual route), but finally found them. At left is Swanson Lake near Trenton in southwestern Nebraska, and at right, the distinctive shape is of Red Willow Reservoir.



As can be seen in these photos, even over the few minutes between these last photos, clouds were increasing, and they became quite thick - I never saw the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers, but clouds are fun to watch too - especially in 3D!


These photos were taken in southern Colorado, with the front range coming into view. At left is a single photo - one of the few showing the sky. Note how dark blue it is when flying close to 40,000 feet - not much scattering to make it the normal sky-blue we see from the ground! And while the horizon looks curved, I'm not certain I should point it out as lens distortions, especially at wide angles, can cause that too! At right is the 3D anaglyph version. I wasn't sure that the wing, obviously not displaying ANY baseline 3D, would screw up the image, but it is obvious that it does not.



Photos of clouds are oftentimes confusing, as you lose perspective when they can appear at several levels and is difficult to interpret if a piece here is in front or back of others. The 3D versions are MUCH more definitive, and works on even the messiest of photos - in stereo it is usually easy to see the shape and relative distance to the clouds. Here are a couple more interesting structures I shot once the skies clouded up over the Midwest and there was nothing else to see till we landed in a misty rain in Chicago.


So you will have to forgive my weakness for 3D images - or at least trying to capture them! Seems the anaglyph version of display is easiest for people to view (many have the required red/blue glasses. Of course, it can mess up the color balance of objects that are colored similarly to the red or blue colors of the filters needed to view the images. At least I have fun - up to YOU if you enjoy them too!

Its a 3D Solar System!

This is a 3D stereo post - so dig up your red/blue anaglyph glasses! You DO all have some, right? I've got a few hundred pair to give away, but can't afford postage to send them all out to you - let me know how to get them to you if you are lacking!

Anyway, this is a 2-part post! A few stereo pairs from a recent trip to Mexico and a recently released 3D data set from a spacecraft that visited a comet! The later is really incredible, and I had taken a few from the Mexican beach, so decided to combine... I hope you enjoy them. BTW, You REALLY need to have a pair of glasses near your computer! They are often used to present images from NASA craft and are also used on APOD frequently too!


The beach shots are all taken by me using a single DSLR camera (Canon 6D), and in this case, a macro lens was used for the close-up, and these first two shots here were taken with the normal kit lens. In each case, 2 images were taken with a shift between them to provide a baseline. When each is viewed with the appropriate eyeball, 3D stereo results! That is what the red/blue glasses does - allow you to see each image with just one eye for your brain to reassemble. The separation for the normal lens (above) is a couple inches, about what your eye is. For the macro, the distance between photos is less because of the magnification involved. Likely a couple centimeters is sufficient! The 3D really brings out the structure and form of objects - MUCH more clearly than a single 2 dimensional image!


One of my must-reads on the Internet
every day is a stop by the Twitter feed of planetary scientist Emily Lackdawalla. She has very similar interests to my own, and daily reposts links that I'd love to look at, from planetary and astronomical exploration, to pushing her girls into STEM, and seeing what is outraging the working scientists of the day. It is ALWAYS worth a look around! In her efforts to clearly explain the intricate details of planetary missions, both of the robotic spacecraft and the resultant data collected, new data sets are often revealed. Such was the case last week when she reposted a set from a couple years ago of the Rosetta comet mission to the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It is an incredible data set, with details of distance, time and where on the comet the view is located. And the 3D views of this foreign landscape (a COMET!) is just incredible! There are over 1000 anaglyph stereo pairs presented, these are a couple of my favorites. I love both the wide-field ones here, with mighty jets shooting material outwards as ices melt in sunlight, as well as close-us of mighty ridges and caves that likely hide the jets in the deep shadows...


So take these in and be amazed, then go
to the link below to browse away the day!





Click here on this link to go to the Rosetta 3D anaglyph image collection!

The Window Seat!

Have been at "Ketelsen East" for over a week now, and time to get my travellin' photos posted! It is fun to schedule a down-sun seat and watch for the waypoints we pass every trip that seem like long-lost friends. And every time you seem to see more and sometimes weird stuff - no exception this trip! The plane, a 737, was absolutely full, so took longer than normal to load and we took off about 10 minutes late. The photo at left shows the view from my vantage point from seat 28A as we turned onto runway 11 to start our takeoff roll.



The flight path usually takes us just south of Mount Graham and in many recent trips have gotten some impressive views of the telescopes there. This time the plane flew pretty much due east for a good length of time - I could look out my window and see Willcox below me and Mount Graham a good 30 miles to the north. We must have turned towards the NE shortly after as a bit later the big copper mine at Clifton/Morenci came into view as usual. We never got close to it, but thanks to the clean windows, got some decent views! At left is one of the photographs showing good detail, and at right is a pair of images put together to make a 3D anaglyph image. You will need the red/blue glasses to see the 3D, red lens on the left! The mine is the largest production copper mine in North America, so is a big deal in the local economy - Morenci is located in eastern AZ, in fact, I'm thinking we might even have been in New Mexico airspace when this photo was taken!


Now that we were nearer our normal flight path, the waypoints came by like clockwork... Twelve minutes later, the VLA (Very Large Array radio telescope) came into view. It was tough to spot visually, but a little contrast adjustment in Photoshop brought the telescope dishes into clear view. 27 dishes, each about 80 feet in diameter are spread out along a big "Y", each arm about 9 miles long. The dishes can be easily moved on a rail system, mounted closer to the center to provide highest sensitivity, or spread out widely along the 9 miles of each arm for the highest angular resolution. According to the observing schedule, this is configuration "B" which provides the second-highest angular resolution...  Click the left image for the full-size view!


Six minutes later and we were approaching Albuquerque, looking up the Rio Grande Valley. At right is a great view up the river. Click to load the full image and you can see some Fall colors in the foliage near the river, as well as the patchwork of fields irrigated by river water. I believe the town above center is Belen, NM...


We passed Albuquerque and the Sandia mountains they nestle against as we continued ENE. Then I spotted something I've never seen before - what appeared to be a landing strip built along the top of a narrow mesa, with some symbols bulldozed into the desert. I took some photographs and didn't think much about it, finally looking along our path on Google maps, finally finding it! It is known as CST Trementina Base, so named because it is near Trementina, New Mexico. It belongs to the Church of Spiritual Technology, affiliated with the Church of Scientology. Supposedly the location houses an underground vault where the writings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard are preserved for future scholars, the symbols - another Scientology emblem for future faithful to find the vault. The view at left is the straight image, and at right is the 2-photo combo made into an anaglyph that shows the impressive terrain there. Again, the red/blue glasses are needed to see the 3D image.


Eastward of New Mexico and Kansas we
ran into clouds, which forms their own set of pretty views! The photos for the anaglyphs are easy to take in a plane going nearly 600 miles per hour... All you need is a little stereo separation between the 2 frames, much like your eye separation provides for items close enough to reach with your hands. Since clouds are farther away, typically 4 or 5 seconds of a plane's motion is fine. If the clouds are more distant, I've gone as far as 12 or 15 seconds to show a good stereo effect... At left, I love the effect of the clouds floating over the landscape forming a pair of layers at different heights. And at right, when the ground can't be seen, even the clouds themselves form their own landscapes analogous to mountains and valleys. There is a never-ending variety to clouds that I've seen over many trips... Again, both of these are anaglyphs, so use of red/blue glasses required!

It is always a challenge I set for myself to see how soon I can locate where we are as we approach Chicago. Paying attention to the flight path, I can spot the Illinois River and that network of locks, dams and barges plying their way to Chicago. If there are clouds over the Mississippi, hiding where we are crossing, it is sometimes a challenge to locate our approach. On my July trip clouds prevented me from seeing the Illinois river, and I didn't catch the location till we descended over the Fox Valley and saw the "big circles"! As seen at left, it is the Fermilab nuclear accelerator just outside Batavia, about 15 miles south of "Ketelsen East". By using strong magnets, atomic ions can be made to follow the circles and be accelerated to nearly the speed of light and collide into another beam or target, releasing strange and exotic atomic bits and pieces. It was state-of-the-art 45 years ago, but has been superseded by the big accelerators in Europe.


This trip, we were further north, in fact,
likely flying within a couple hundred yards of "Ketelsen East", which is often in the flight path of approaching planes.  I knew because I could look out my left-side window and see the Stearns River bridge, built just a couple years ago and a frequent turn-around point for my walks along the Fox a mile and a half north of the house.  This trip, with the loss of Daylight Savings Time, it was too dark to grab a photo, but the one at left is from April on the same flight following the same path.  The view is looking north up the Fox River, with the Stearns Avenue Bridge at bottom, with it's distinctive green pedestrian and bike path built-in underneath.  Note also the much older railroad bridge just north, which I've not seen used...  In any case, you can see the bike path along the left (west) side of the river, where I took the photo at right last Spring on a walk...

Of course, the endpoint destination is O'Hare Airport (ORD), named for Edward O'Hare, the first WWII flying ace and Medal of Honor winner.  Built in the late 40s and later, it is one of the busiest airports in the world.  We flew past it in September as we went out to Lake Michigan to turn around for our approach towards the west.  The photo at left shows it sprawling over it's 7,000+ acres of land.  I would be intimidated as hell trying to fly a small plane into something like that!

Well, that was this flight - we landed nearly 30 minutes early even with the late start, likely the jet stream was behind us!  I'll keep pushing for the window seat - too much to miss by ignoring the view!

Another Jeep Adventure!

Well, it is October in Arizona, which means that the temperature has dropped below 100F - barely! After being back to Tucson (from Illinois) for over a week, it was time to get out of town for a drive. I still have Melinda's Jeep, so since it has been parked the last couple months, I thought it should get out on a day trip. I decided to redo a trip that Melinda and I had done almost 9 years ago shortly after she moved to Arizona - a drive out to a unique mountain, Baboquivari! Since the car was her daily driver, she got nervous when the road got a little rocky, and we turned around WAY early. Less chance of that happening today!

Anaglyph image - 3D pair of Kitt Peak from east

Anaglyph image- 3D pair of Kitt Peak from the SSE

The route from Tucson takes us out Ajo Way towards the SW, then turns south on the Sasabe Road at Robles Junction (Sometimes called Three Points). I've often been on this route when photographing sky objects in the west, as the silhouette of Kitt Peak National Observatory 12 miles to the west makes a fine foreground! I used the opportunity on Saturday to take some stereo pairs of the Observatory, taking image sets a couple hundred meters apart to show 3D effects at the distance of the mountain. Use the usual anaglyph red/blue glasses to see the 3D effect! While the image at left shows the usual profile one sees heading west towards the Observatory, the 3D image reveals the topography you don't usually see! As the road continues south and curves towards the west, you get a completely new vantage point of the mountain, as shown at right. Kitt Peak's top is sort of shaped like a "T" with the broad side on the south, and you can see this topography with a couple hundred meters separation. These pairs were taken with a 500mm lens out the car window, pulling over when there was a clear shot to the horizon...

Anaglyph image - 3D of Baboquivari over foothills

A few more miles and Baboquivari, which had been visible miles away, comes to dominate the western horizon. It is a spectacular mountain - the remaining lava plug from an ancient volcano. The anaglyph at left shows the peak towering over some of the foothills that surround it. The diagonal slash of green just above the foothills is a natural ledge (called Lion's Ledge) that forms a route across the sheer east face of the mountain. A lifetime ago, a Kitt Peak programmer (an experienced climber) led another employee and me across Lion's Ledge to climb that left side profile, called the "Southeast Arete". Never having been rock climbing before, I chickened out and met them back at the saddle on the north side, after they successfully summited and descended again. I've never been comfortable in highly exposed situations, and while I've climbed to the peak three times since, it was always on the easier Forbes route on the north and west sides...

Peak nears, road becomes a little sketchy!

The turn towards Baboquivari was near milepost 16 on the Sasabe road. The dirt road was near perfect condition, except for occasional small gullies that would have slammed your head on the roof of the Jeep if you didn't slow and didn't have your seatbelts on! It was about 8 miles to a locked gate, the road getting progressively worse as the peak became more and more impressive as it grew nearer! Really, only the last mile required 4WD in climbing out of a wash and a steep rocky hill beyond. Shortly after crossing a wash with actual standing water and deciduous trees showing some Fall colors, we came to the locked gate, the weeds growing on the route beyond indicating it is not open very often! But that is MUCH farther than Melinda let me go with her baby back in 2008! I took a photo of the Jeep and the gate with the peak in the background in celebration!

I didn't feel like hiking much beyond the gate and other than take a few stereo pairs didn't stay long. I had spotted a striking seed pod while climbing through the desert vegetation, the crimson seeds standing out against the browns and tans of late Fall. I took a photo of it against some striking pink metamorphic rock that I collected in a wash crossing.

I also collected a set of photos of the peak with the 300mm lens, zooming considerably into the slab, taking 13 frames to cover it down to the lower elevations. While the mosaic loses considerable power when reduced to the 1600 pixel wide limit of the blog, it still reveals lots of details in the sheer walls.

The return down the route seemed to go faster and the Jeep enjoyed returning to pavement in less than an hour. Like the trip in '08, returned via Arivaca and Amado to return to Tucson via I-19, arriving by sunset, making for a long, but memorable drive to some difficult-to-forget wilderness!