Accommodations and Facilities (Added: 2017-09-07)
Participants will be accommodated in the
New Dormitory
and
Old Dormitory.
Rooms are typically doubles or triples with shared bathrooms.
Depending on availability and circumstances, a single
occupancy room and bathroom may be assigned.
Meals shall be provided in the
Diner.
Participants may be asked to assist with food preparation.
Activities shall be mainly undertaken at the
Main Building
(e.g. Lecture Hall, 36-inch Refractor enclosure, Nickel
Control Room),
Shane Telescope
(e.g. Library, CAT Control Room, Shane Control Room).
Men's and Women's restrooms are located within the Main
Building and the Shane Telescope. Additional toilets are
located elsewhere at the Shane Telescope, the Diner and
the Old Dormitory.
Personal Items
Accommodations on Mount Hamilton are spartan.
-
Please bring your own personal towel(s),
sufficient for your stay on Mount Hamilton.
Be advised that there are no personal hygiene items
available for purchase on Mount Hamilton. For
completeness, participants are reminded to bring
sufficient supplies of:
-
toothbrush(es)
-
toothpaste
-
soap
-
shampoo
-
other personal/sanitary items, etc.
Believe it or not, participants have overlooked these
items in the past.
Walking
One activity is a walking tour of Lick
Observatory to introduce the telescopes, facilities, and
science being undertaken on Mount Hamilton.
Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes.
The walking tour involves climbing 100s of steps and a
total walk of over a mile.
Please notify us in advance if you require
any special mobility/access consideration(s).
After safety, science takes priority.
It may not be possible to enter certain areas, or remain
in certain areas for prolonged intervals, if doing so
compromises science operations (e.g.
delaying acquisition of calibration data;
distracting observers).
Additionally, please be advised that staff astronomers
remain on-call and may be required to provide support
for multiple programs and/or instruments.
Conserve Water
Water is a valuable and scarce resource, particularly
so at many observatories worldwide, located in remote
and/or desert environments, where in many cases water
has to be trucked-in at great expense.
Lick Observatory draws water from springs on the slopes
of Mount Hamilton and processes the water in an on-site
treatment plant. Mount Hamilton water ranks highly in
the State of California's regularly mandated water
quality assessments. It is safe to drink water from
faucets, spigots and fountains.
However, after multiple years of drought in California,
these supplies are a concern.
Be proactive in conserving water: close faucets
properly, take short (navy) showers, report leaks.
Weather
The weather can be unpredictable.
For a forecast, before you depart for Mount Hamilton,
visit the following URL:
Weather Forecast for Mount Hamilton, California
Apparel
Even if the weather will be warm during the day
it can be surprisingly cold and windy at night.
Participants and observers
will be spending significant time outside or in unheated
telescope enclosures.
Bringing a warm coat, hat, and gloves and to dress in
layers is recommended.
Flashlights
It is recommended to bring a flashlight since
participants will be walking
between buildings in the dark and flashlights provided
with the dorm keys are small (and not all sets of
keys have flashlights on the keychains).
Keep a flashlight and your keys on your person at all
times to avoid being locked-out of accommodations,
Diner and other facilities. Lost, damaged or unreturned
keys shall incur penalty replacement charges.
Electronics & Communications (Updated: 2017-09-06)
The dormitory rooms and telescope enclosures have Wi-Fi,
so bring your laptops (and power supplies) with you
(Wi-Fi passwords when you arrive).
The curriculum includes a practical data reduction session.
Although not a requirement, participants may optionally
install some industry standard software on their laptop
computers in advance of the workshop:
-
Python version 2.7.5 or higher
(but NOT Python 3), with packages numpy,
scipy, astropy and
astroscrappy.
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SAOImage ds9 data visualization application.
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Optionally, participants may consider also
installing IRAF, the Image Reduction and Analysis
Facility.
Laptop computers are strongly recommended to have capability
to support x-terminal operation
e.g. via
cygwin (Microsoft Windows operating systems)
or xquartz (Apple Macintosh operating systems) as
well as secure shell (ssh) and secure copy
(scp) protocols.
Mobile phone reception is unreliable on Mount Hamilton.
If you leave your phone powered-on, it is likely to run
down its battery searching for a signal within a few
hours. Ensure you bring the appropriate charging
device/cable.
Binoculars
For those who own a pair of binoculars, it may be
rewarding to bring them with you, to enhance your
enjoyment of the landscape, wildlife and night sky
while on Mount Hamilton.
Flora & Fauna (Updated: 2017-09-07)
The summit of Mount Hamilton is a remote, rural setting
with abundant wildlife.
Take sensible precautions when moving around:
it is recommended to stay on hard-scaped areas and to
wear full-length pants and socks, thus reducing contact
with
poison oak,
deer ticks (which are vectors for several
diseases, including Lyme) and other hazards.
Snakes are not uncommon, the only dangerous
variety on Mount Hamilton being
rattlesnakes (with flat, diamond shaped, head and
ringed tail).
It is easy to confuse docile non-venomous gopher snakes
with rattlesnakes.
Thus, all snakes should be treated with caution.
Avoid walking too close to undergrowth and/or leaf litter,
where snakes may be nestling.
Rodents are common in and around observatory
precincts, most often evident by their 1--3 mm long,
dark, ovoid faeces
-- particularly in hidden or secluded places.
Rodent debris should be disposed of carefully,
using tools, a facemask and gloves to minimise exposure
to severe diseases (such as Hantavirus, Weil's disease,
etc).
Larger mammals,
deer,
wild pigs
and
bobcats
are year-round residents on Mount Hamilton.
Likewise
foxes,
skunks,
and
raccoons,
which supplement their diet by accessing trash cans.
Occasionally, coyotes are seen.
As with all wild animals they can be aggressive when
cornered or followed.
Rabies is present in California.
Mammal faeces may contain several diseases
(e.g. raccoon worm).
Bears are absent from the Diablo Range of which Mt
Hamilton is the second highest peak.
Even more rarely, mountain lions (pumas/cougars)
are encountered.
Unless sick or starving, these big cats actively
avoid humans.
However, if you do encounter a mountain lion, DO NOT RUN
AWAY (which has the effect of triggering feline hunting
instincts).
Try to make yourself appear large (e.g. by opening your
jacket). If the cat does not move away, make some noise.
In extremis, try throwing stones at the animal.
Bugs and arachnids are ubiquitous.
Those to be most aware of are scorpions, centipedes
and one variety of spider.
It is a good idea to bring slippers to wear in the
accommodations.
Check the inside of all footwear before wearing,
since scorpions and centipedes which tend to be
nocturnal can deliver painful stings and poisonous bites,
respectively.
Black widow spiders are comparatively
rare, preferring minimal disturbance,
generally sheltering in dark undisturbed
places such as rarely-used closets.
If left untreated, black widow bites can be fatal.
Workshop Attendance DOES NOT Constitute Instrument Check-out
Regrettably, attendance at the Observational Astronomy
Workshop DOES NOT constitute a check-out on any of the
facility instruments on Mount Hamilton. It only serves
as exposure to, and introduction to, a subset of the
Mount Hamilton instrument suite.
Check-outs are instrument specific. Hence, separate
check-outs are required for each instrument (e.g.
Shane+Kast, Nickel+CCD2, Shane+ShaneAO+ShARCS,
CAT+Hamilton). Local check-outs must be scheduled
separately in advance and require several hours of
interaction between observer(s) and Mount Hamilton
staff, including supervision of night time object
acquisitions.
Similarly, remote check-outs must be scheduled separately
in advance (and can only be considered following completion
of a local check-out). Remote check-outs typically require
a few minutes interaction between observer(s) and Mount
Hamilton staff and consist largely of assistance in
connecting communications, relaying information and
reminders, and assisting with configuring the instrument.
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