HCRO 12APR04
- Obscura :
- HCRO 12FEB07 :
- Home :
- Contact :
BIMA Shutdown
This 360 degree panorama was taken shortly before shutdown of the BIMA (Berkeley-Illinois-Maryland Association) array. As part of the CARMA (California Array for Research in Millimeter Astronomy) effort, the telescopes have since been relocated to Cedar Flat in the Inyo Mountains. The ATA (Allen Telescope Array), shown here during the earliest construction phase, is the third radio astronomy instrument hosted by Hat Creek.
Remarks
The 85' radio telescope was the first instrument hosted by Hat
Creek. Ansel Adams photographed it in 1964. After a productive
31 year career, the telescope was destroyed by fierce wind in
1993. The lab building, seen behind the telescope, is the only
surviving relic of that pioneering era.
87.27.4.UC.9 - Hat Creek radio astronomy station
Contemporary Image from Original Negative by Ansel Adams,
UCR/California Museum of Photography,
Sweeney/Rubin Ansel Adams Fiat Lux Collection,
University of California, Riverside.
After nearly 10 years since BIMA array was commissioned, the
antennas have been dismantled and relocated as part of the
CARMA effort. Here is a aerial video clip of the BIMA array,
taken from a helicopter (courtesy Rick Forster):
Ascending the site (6.3Mb, 320x240, 1.0 min):
bima_ascend.avi
Burney Falls is out yonder, about 26 km away. The river not only
drops down a 130 ft cliff, which is awesome enough. But water
also flows out of the cliff face due to porous volcanic rock.
It's an amazing sight.
Burney Falls (6.3Mb, 320x240, 1.0 min):
burney_falls.avi
The southern end of the Cascade Range is anchored by mighty sentinels Shasta and Lassen. Mt. Shasta dominates the northwest horizon even from 90 km away. Towards the south, Mt. Lassen erupted as recently as 1915. Towards the west lies Mt. Burney, where the summit is approachable by a white knuckle, switchback fire road.
The Hat Creek Rim is one of the dominant geologic features in the region.
It is defined by a series of "benches" rising up east of the valley floor,
generally spanning the north to south direction. Each bench is a slab
of lava flow sitting between two fault scarps and is the piece of land
which was left at the old level when the land to the west of the fault
dropped. The Murken Bench is the youngest (about 4x10^4 years) and the
top level bench is the oldest (about 1x10^6 years). The Pacific Coast
Trail meanders along the top of the rim, peaking at about 5000' or
1700' above the valley floor. This stretch of the famous trail is
often considered inhospitable, especially during Summer. A large
swath of the rim was burned desolate during the 1987 Lost Fire.
Here are aerial video clips taken from a helicopter (courtesy
Rick Forster):
Ascending Hat Creek Rim (9.4Mb, 320x240, 1.5 min):
hc_rim_ascend.avi
Descending Hat Creek Rim
via Lost Canyon (9.4Mb, 320x240, 1.5 min):
hc_rim_descend.avi
Navigation Instructions
- Move cursor into viewport
- Click and drag left or right to pan
- Use lower left control panel to zoom in or out and toggle hotspots
- Click on red hotspot icons for further information
Dr. James Richard Forster took 15 source images with a Canon PowerShot A60 digicam. Panorama composed by Ted Yu using Helmut Dersch's PanoTools for image alignment and Enblend for image stitching.
