Woke up this morning to more ice on the ground. Looks as though the water on the ground froze last night. Yesterday and (so far) today, it’s looked like a real winter here, which is a nice change. Things might be a bit hairy on the roads this morning, so I’m gonna stay off my bike again today. I prefer the vertical ice at any rate…
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Back to older things..
I spent yesterday afternoon working on a paper from my summer research a couple summers ago. Things have been so busy lately I haven’t had a chance to work on it until now, but I made some good progress last night on a paper. I had a bit written up already, so I added to it. Having written one paper already and most of a thesis, it is getting easier to write. However, still a lengthy process. One additional aspect here is that I haven’t worked on the data in a long time so I also have to reacquainted with the project. Fortunately, I had learned to document everything well so there is a good summary file I am using.
This research occured while I had my summer internship at ASTRON/JIVE in the Netherlands. I was studying neutral hydrogen absorption in radio galaxies. I think we came up with some interesting results, so I’m looking forward to getting those out.
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Road
I was browsing through my photos this morning, trying to organize/find some photos I’ve been meaning to edit since June. I found this picture which I took as part of a test roll to really showcase (to myself) the effect of various color filters on black and white film.
I like the way the road draws your eye to the horizon, disappearing in the trees just before it gets there. The only thing possibly missing from this picture is a 1946 Ford Pickup truck 
Icebox?
You find all sorts of odd things when lakes freeze…
Sunday, 18 January 2009
Spring Schedule
I’ve uploaded a rough version of my schedule. Some of it is tentative, but it’s more ore less accurate.
PhD Qualifying Exams Done
I’m back at home after turning in Part 2 of the PhD qualifying exams for UVa. It wasn’t the easiest test I’ve taken, however I think I did ok. I’ll find out in a few weeks I guess! Now, I’m going to take the rest of the afternoon and do nothing. Might nap, might read, might clean. Who knows? Anything but think
Work starts again tomorrow, with some lab preparation to be done and the usual getting back into the swing of classes. I’ll get my schedule up soon, but I’m taking 3 classes: Radio Astronomy Instrumentation, Extragalactic Astrophysics II and Interstellar Medium. All three sound like they’re going to be quite interesting. More later…
Friday, 16 January 2009
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Study Break Sunset
Took a quick break from studying to close the shades here at home, and noticed this gorgeous sunset. Shot was taken from the middle floor, out the window using a Canon 20D.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Goliath Expedition
This past November 1st, Karl Bushby marked 10 years since he began walking home from Punta Arenas (Chile). Where is home? Hull, England. Now 17,000 miles into the trip, with 19,000 to go, Karl expects to be home sometime in 2012. He is currently in Russia, having walked across the Bering Strait. Called the “Goliath Expedition”, it is quite an impressive journey. Karl has been posting to a blog on the website below.
Sunrise Hike
David and I met early yesterday morning at the astronomy department to do a bit of hiking. We beat the sunrise and started hiking up Observatory Hill just after 7am. By the time the sun rose at 730, we were on the opposite side of the hill, hiking along the Rivanna Trail. It was a cool morning, with temperatures hovering around freezing. There was a bit of half-frozen mud on the trail, which crunched under our feet as we walked. We turned north and walked to Ivy road, where we turned around and followed the Rivanna Trail along route 250 until we reached Fontaine Rd. It was a nice quiet morning, with a gorgeous blue sky. The forecast had been for cold and rain, so I’d unfortunately opted to leave my camera home.
We got back to our cars just before 10, having hiked almost 4 miles. What a great way to start the morning! Then, it was back home to hit the books in preparation for qualifying exams. ! week to go.
