I just returned from Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) with five students. We left our colleagues Professor Steve Boughn and students Alex Dillaire and Estella de Souza behind to finish up the last two nights of our observing run on the 0.9m telescope. Erica Hopkins and Sarah Sofia have already talked a bit about our experience (that also included Mimi Fuchs, Peter Ferguson, and Mariah Baker). I had an amazing time, and the students were highly impressive in their dilligence in data acquisition, analysis, and troubleshooting. We were very busy both nights, whether obtaining time-series observations of a Milky Way globular cluster for science, observing beautiful nebulae and galaxies for fun, looking up at the sky trying to see M31 with our naked eyes, trying to figure out how to reset the emergency stop switch, filling the dewar, eating spicy hot Cheetos, or listening to music. One highlight for me was seeing both Venus and Jupiter bright in the sunrise sky at 6 am.
I could go on and on about our trip, but I really want to show a few pictures taken by Mariah Baker:
