SMG日食直播语录
Nov 23rd
今晚拉完琴总想写点什么东西,却发现写什么时间都不太够,就转一篇有点旧了的语录来,给大家乐乐吧。有删改。
- 某个观测点因为有云,看不到日全食。
男主持:“现在有云看不到日食,等下太阳完全被遮住的时候,应该可以看到星星吧?”
教授:“看不到。”
男主持:“可以看到吧,到时候天会完全暗下来。”
教授(狂汗):“呃…… 如果日食都看不到的话,星星也不可能看到的。” - 主持人假装鸡冻地说:“江教授,你看日食感动吗?”
江教授说:“我不感动,看多了就不感动了。等你看多了,也不会感动了。” - 女主持问:“江教授,月球上的山是怎么形成的,是小行星撞击的吗?”
江教授说:“月球上的山本来就在那里。” - 当转到印度的时候,女主持说:“在黑暗中有星星,江教授,那是水星吗?我们看得到星星吗?”
后来证明不是星星,是渔船。 - 镜头转到重庆,画面突然一片漆黑!
主持人:“江教授,那么这是不是就是太阳完全被遮住时的样子?”
江教授:“我觉得好像是没有信号……” - 男主持人:“教授,给我们说说为什么处于太阳边缘的日冕层的温度会那么高?”
教授:“其实…… 日冕层的温度不是那么高的。”
男主持人:“但据说要比太阳中心的温度高很多,这是一个很神奇的现象!!”
教授:“日冕层的温度怎么会比太阳中心高呢,当然还是中心温度高了……”
女主持人听不下去了,赶紧来圆场:“让我们看一下画面当中**地的连接画面吧!”
(注:我查了一下资料,日冕的温度约为5百万开,日心温度约为1.57千万开) - 上海全黑的时候,主持问教授,“教授你觉得上海应该开景观灯吗?”
教授平静地说:“不该开。浪费钱。” - 还有说到有人专门去日本在坐游艇在海上观看。
主持鸡东地问教授:“在海上看有什么不一样,会更怎么怎么样……”
教授又淡定地说:“没有什么不一样。” - 上海下雨看不起来日全食,有个记者去报导天黑的时候状况,非常镇定地说:“太阳正在以每秒钟——”顿了一下,“一点一点的速度暗下去……”
- 主持人男:“鉴证奇迹的时刻到来了,重庆地区已经黑了!!”
主持人女:“奇观,奇观!!”
沉默半分钟后……
主持人男:“怎么回事?怎么回事。原来是信号中断黑屏了。”
主持人女:“还是让我们看武汉地区吧。” - 男主持人很激动的说:“我国在很早的时候就开始通过坐飞机的方式来做科学研究,江教授,您能跟我们介绍下吗?”
教授说:“这个问题你不要问我,那个项目我没有参与过。” - 男主持人:“有很多追日族天文爱好者,甚至坐飞机从西向东飞来欣赏日食。江教授,我们都知道,在飞机上角度不行,万一看不到怎么办?”
教授不耐烦地说:“那你把头仰起来看呗!”
卡内基音乐厅费城交响乐团音乐会听后记
Nov 21st
10月13日。我在游客如潮的帝国大厦晕头晕脑地转了半天,又倒了好一会地铁(其实就一条线,但因为这一条线有好几趟列车,结果坐了两趟才到),总算来到了地铁五十七街七大道站。匆匆从狭小的地铁口出来,到了五十七街和第七大道的转角处,就看到一大群人在那里拥来挤去的,我抬头一看,是一座古色古香的欧式建筑,之前悬挂着美国国旗和"Carnegie Hall"的红旗。呀,这座大名鼎鼎的音乐厅,看起来怎么像是百老汇大街上让人挤破头的老式百货商店一样?我问旁边的人,这里是不是卡内基音乐厅。“当然啦,你看,这么多人。”对方回答道。我这才点了点头。美国人对古典音乐的热情让我很吃惊。
这里应该介绍一下大名鼎鼎的卡内基音乐厅啦,顺便给不熟悉古典音乐的朋友扫扫盲。大家不要看照片中的卡内基音乐厅如此现代化,其实它已有近120年的历史了。自从1891年落成以来,几乎所有最伟大的古典音乐家都在卡内基音乐厅演出过,比如柴可夫斯基、理查·施特劳斯、格什温、拉赫玛尼诺夫、托斯卡尼尼、布鲁诺·瓦尔特、伯恩斯坦,等等等等,这名单可以列出极长的一串。总之,要将卡内基音乐厅称作是世界上古典音乐圣地之一,是毫不为过的。而今天我有幸能在这块圣地上,听美国五大乐团之一、有“费城之声”美誉的费城交响乐团演出,可真是让人兴奋哪!
卡内基音乐厅应该算我去过的第二个著名音乐厅——假如北京的国家大剧院也可以算著名音乐厅的话,所以自然很多方面我都会不自觉地拿它和国家大剧院比较。从容量到气势,卡内基音乐厅自然远远比不上国家大剧院——即使它最大的主厅(又名艾萨克·斯特恩礼堂)也比国家大剧院的歌剧院小很多,更不要说外观上的差距了。但归根结底,卡内基音乐厅当然是以浓厚的历史底蕴取胜。要建一座金碧辉煌的大建筑很容易,但真正的韵味却只有时间才能赋予。假如ZZ书上的预言能实现的话,那100年以后肯定也会有许多人感叹国家大剧院的底蕴——但到时候再说吧。
拥挤了十几分钟以后,总算拿到了票,进入了主厅。我就不啰嗦了,快快切入正题,也就是今晚的音乐会吧。
The Philadelphia Orchestra | Charles Dutoit
Piano: Yujia Wang
2009 October 13, 8 p.m. EDT+1 at Carnegie Hall
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
1. Adagio for Strings
Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)
2. Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16
Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)
3. Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
费城交响乐团,上面已经提到过了,是美国五大乐团之一(另外四大分别是波士顿、芝加哥、纽约爱乐和克利夫兰),拥有“费城之声”的美誉(具体是什么,听过便知);瑞士著名指挥家查尔斯·迪图瓦已经七十三岁高龄(我也是查资料才知道,但他看上去真的很年轻!),现任皇家爱乐乐团首席指挥;王羽佳,中国著名的年轻女钢琴家(只比我大1岁),我原来还不太熟悉,不过钢琴搭档盼盼给了她很高的评价,因此我也多了几分期待。
第一首是巴贝尔的《为弦乐而作的广板》,是比较有名的作品,据说在肯尼迪的葬礼上即演奏此曲。介绍中说这是“20世纪最受人喜爱的作品之一”。这首柔味极浓的作品完全不对我胃口,但我要承认,那短短的六分钟已足以让我被“费城之声”所倾倒。《广板》让你如同置身于一大片静谧的树林中一样,而费城乐团的弦乐部在迪图瓦的指挥下,在卡内基音乐厅温暖回响的熏陶之下(小提琴家斯特恩说过,这音乐厅“本身就是乐器”),将树林间一种柔和而忧伤的颜色,真切地“浓到化不开的程度”,就好像你经历过一场挫折,在独自一人喝咖啡一样,那股味道浸透你的五脏六腑,将你溶化其间。我不喜欢这首曲,至少,现在不喜欢。但这一次聆听这首作品的经历真是太棒了。我最喜欢乐曲的高潮阶段,弦乐奏出那一个不和谐音的一刹那,仿佛能听到一个人无助的叹息。而费城乐团演奏着个音的方式,是一种瞬间的“渗”出来,而不是“爆”出来(我听过的2个版本都是“爆”或者“冲”出来)—— 这样细腻的表现程度,让我尤为惊叹。不过,要更好地欣赏这首曲,也许还应该等生活经历再丰富些。
顺带提一下这首作品首演的趣事。上世纪30年代,年轻的巴贝尔在意大利见到了指挥大师托斯卡尼尼,后者对这位出色的作曲家很感兴趣,表示愿意指挥他的一些作品,于是1936年1月,巴贝尔将自己的《为弦乐而作的广板》以及《为管弦乐团而作的随笔》(这名字是我随便翻的,原名Essay for Orchestra)寄给了托斯卡尼尼,但托斯卡尼尼很快将这两首作品退还给了巴贝尔,回信中并未作说明。当年夏天,巴贝尔便拒绝在意大利见托斯卡尼尼,而他的同伴,作曲家Menotti,告诉大师说巴贝尔因为“健康原因”无法前来。大师说,“我才不相信呢。他疯了。叫他别发疯。他的两首作品我都要指挥。”1938年11月,托斯卡尼尼指挥NBC交响乐团演出了这两部作品,这次演出是全美国广播的。
第二首,是王羽佳和费城乐团联袂演出普罗科菲耶夫的《G小调第二钢琴协奏曲》。这首作品原来是普罗柯菲耶夫在1913年读大学时为纪念一位自杀的好友而作的(当然,完全没有悼念之类的意思),作品原稿于1918年毁于十月革命战火(根据作曲家本人考证,是被难民拿来烧煎饼了),作曲家在1923年又重写了曲谱。重写之后的作品于1930年2月在卡内基音乐厅首演,库谢维茨基指挥波士顿交响乐团演出,普罗科菲耶夫本人担任独奏。不知为何,我非常喜欢这部作品——因为,不知道处于什么缘故,听了它让我有一种“非常”解气的感觉——当然气什么呢?我就说不上来了。
《第二钢琴协奏曲》被认为是技巧性最高的钢琴协奏曲之一,但王羽佳却应对自如。我之前听的是李云迪和柏林爱乐的版本。李云迪和王羽佳都是中国最出色的钢琴家,但我更认可王羽佳的演奏,可能很大一部分是因为费城乐团的衬托更到位。柏林爱乐在许多时候给我的感觉好像一辆重型坦克,在演奏大块大块的德意志音乐时很擅长,但应对一些轻快、跳跃性很强的段落(比如第二乐章)的时候,就不太合大多数人的胃口了。尽管《二协》在许多地方确实很“大块”,但我就是觉得,不能带着“大块”的感觉去演奏——也许是因为我带着“解气”的感觉去欣赏的。比如第一乐章靠近末尾处,全乐队三度下行,听柏林爱乐的演奏简直让人汗毛直竖,但听费城乐团的演出,则让人在要觉得害怕的时候,生出一种很滑稽的感觉,就好像看到一个纸糊的巨人一样。我最喜欢第三乐章的开头,因为它或许最能体现出“纸糊的巨人”这种感觉。费城乐团的木管声音更透彻,铜管也不如柏林爱乐那么巨大(如果纸糊的巨人变成了真的巨人,你还笑得出来吗!?),演奏的时候周围甚至还有些美国听众笑出声来(这段真的挺滑稽的,尤其是大提琴的旋律配着木管的七度音程)。第四乐章最后“当当当当当当当当当”的瞬间爆发,迪图瓦的拿捏也很到位,简直让人担心他会不会突然发作了,当然,这里的话,柏林爱乐或是费城乐团,都是顶级的,差距不大。
演出结束,热烈的掌声几乎把顶盖都要掀翻了,王羽佳谢了好多次幕。确实,这次是最顶级的演出!
下半场只有一首曲,柏辽兹的《幻想交响曲》。对不起,我想不通为什么这样一首曲会是全美演出最多的古典作品(根据美利坚交响乐团联盟的统计结果)。我觉得,柏辽兹的曲子都闷得很,即便是他的“拉科西进行曲”,我听着也差不多想打瞌睡。据说那首曲首演的时候,当接近结尾的炮声响起,听众的怒吼甚至让乐手都起鸡皮疙瘩,现场热情是如此高涨,以至于反复演奏了几次还是无法让人们听到乐曲的结尾!我怎么就一点儿感觉都没有?所以,对于《幻想交响曲》,我还是不作评论了,或许再多听几次会有点感觉。
最后谈谈美国观众。提到这个,就让我想起不太愉快的、在国家大剧院欣赏维也纳爱乐乐团演出的经历了,国人在欣赏古典艺术方面还差几个档次(肯定会有朋友说,bla bla bla bla... 我的看法是:听不懂又不想听就别去嘛!去那里咳嗽,损坏国家形象,想听的人也不痛快)。美国人倒也不是完全不咳嗽(插一句,在那里还是碰到了好些中国人的),也有少数人是干咳,但总体氛围还是很好的,而且他们清楚地知道应该在何时鼓掌;不像国内,有时乐曲停顿时间略长一点,都会有观众“情不自禁”地开始拍手,搞得台上台下好不尴尬,更不要说乐章间的鼓掌了。最重要的一点,我感觉“真正听得懂”的听众比例很高,最明显的例子就是演奏《第二协奏曲》时听众们的笑声了,我第一次有一种感觉,就是音乐真正地在成功地传递某样复杂的东西,音乐厅里的人都感觉到了,而我是他们中的一员。听众们明白乐曲的意图,感受乐曲传递来的信息,他们当然也就会明白一些基本的欣赏礼仪(比方说,听《第二协奏曲》的时候,当那个“纸糊的巨人”还没被最后那几下“当当”干掉的时候,你会鼓掌吗),这让我觉得非常、非常舒畅。总之,这肯定是我到目前为止最棒的一次欣赏经历。
又是一年狮王吼——2009年狮子座流星雨观后记
Nov 19th
天文爱好者们早已习惯用“狮王”代称狮子座流星雨,既有“王”字作衬,它的地位也就不必多费口舌来修饰。尽管这几年狮王活动平平,但提起它,许多铁杆爱好者都会翻出2001年那场罕见大爆发的经历出来津津乐道。对我来说,狮子座流星雨是观测次数最多的流星雨,掰指头一算,第一次目睹狮王英姿,竟然已经是12年前的陈年往事了。
2009年的狮子座流星雨预计有较大活跃,全国各地的天文爱好者都是摩拳擦掌,我也借着今年日全食天气预报大获全胜的好势头,推出了狮子座流星雨天气预报。最早的预报显示广东一带天气不佳,不过预报逐渐好转。到了11月17日,我作的预报是大致晴天,要起云也是后半夜起云,同时认为珠三角西部天气较好,于是南十字星会N伙人马杀向高村观测基地,加上东莞甚至深圳的爱好者也蜂拥而至,一时间高村晒谷场车水马龙、人满为患。我蹭着littlePig的Subaru来到高村,也暂时摆脱了“脱离组织”的“罪名”。
这晚高村的天气相当不错,极限星等5.2等左右,看来下半夜可以大干一场,于是我先钻进车里睡上一觉。不过狮子座虽然还没升起,金牛座火流星却先跑出来凑热闹,时不时划过一颗,搞得地上的人尖叫连连,我的睡觉计划基本失败,半醒半睡之间透过天窗也看到了一颗极亮的火流星。
夜半0点,起床,穿好羽绒服,披挂整齐,四处串门之后,避开喧闹的大伙,跑到角落躺下来做目视观测。串门花了不少时间,结果观测是0:49才开始。运气不错,刚躺下来就看到了两颗不太亮的,然后0:56看到一颗漂亮的火流星横穿猎户脚下,大伙又是“哇”的一声。今晚的狮子座流星虽然都不太亮,但大多数都留有几秒钟的余迹,挺赏心悦目的,到一点半一共数到9颗群内6颗群外。这时,周恒过来了,结果他一躺下来,流星就不出现了,我就站起来休息了二十来分钟,回来的时候周恒还躺在那里,气哼哼地说:“我都看了半个多小时了,一颗都没看到!”幸好这句话说完没一会儿,就下了一颗,给他慰问了一下;那颗不是很亮,我也没看到。然后,起雾了,大伙儿一片鬼哭狼嚎,广州日报的叶卡斯也打道回府,路上给我们发了条短信,说广佛高速上阴云密布,看来广州的观测者是全挂了。
没过一会儿,天又晴了,比上半夜更好,极限星等一度达到5.4等,大家又开始起劲,狮王也开始活动身体了,好几回是一连出2、3颗;4点以后更热闹,最短在15秒之内一连出现了3颗群内和2颗群外,大家热情高涨。从4:17-4:54的37分钟内,我数到了21颗群内流星,还有大概七、八颗是其他人看见的(这就不算了),事后对照国际流星组织的分析,这也是狮子座流星雨的峰值时间。虽然亮的非常少,但当流星接二连三地迸发出来时,大家还是十分兴奋的。
可惜我的预报不幸言中,差几分钟5点的时候,起云了。怎么起的呢?有人大叫:“东方黑压压的云上来啦!”3分钟之后,一颗星也看不到了。不过据何老大说,他之后还看见了2颗火流星照亮云层发出的光,我就没那么好运气。不过,能在11月份得到这么好的天气(观测前24小时还是阴天!),我们也非常知足了。
狮王,下年见啦。大家开始期待下个月的双子吧。考虑到所有读者的口味,观测报告就不贴上来了,有兴趣的童鞋到国际流星组织那里去找吧。
看看M31
Nov 13th
现在,请放下手头的工作,注视这张照片。在晴朗的晚上,深秋的郊外,无数的星点儿你争我攘,是抬头便可看到的情景。照片右侧的光带,便是我们热闹而庞大的银河系的一小块;而照片的其他部分,或明或暗、红红绿绿,但同样热情地将自己留在照片上的星点儿,也都是我们太阳的远亲近邻。深秋虽然寒冷,夜空虽然黑暗,但能够有这么多星星在你头顶上闪耀,是不是可以让你感受到一丝温暖呢?
也不全是所有的星星都能让你感受到一派热闹非凡的景象。在左边,中间偏上一点点,看到了吗?有一颗周围围绕着光晕的星星。那不是一颗星星,是一个和我们银河系一样的星系,是我们用肉眼能看到的最远的天体。它距离我们真的非常、非常、非常的遥远。假设我们能在照片中向前旅行,当所有其他的星点全落到我们后面的时候,它也只会增大一点点儿。
再想象一下,你是无数万年之后,能拜访其他星系的人类中的一员。在那小小的太空船中,蓦然回首,我们的银河系,我们的家园,也就是这样一个小小的光点而已。仔细看着它:太阳在哪儿呢?地球又在哪儿呢?
宇宙很大。人类很小。如果我们倏然从宇宙中消失,不会留下任何的、一丁点点点儿的痕迹。星星照样发光,星系照样运转,人类的记忆似乎从未存在过。想到这里,你会不会感到十分孤独呢?
好了。假如你熟悉星空,又或者是身边有一位熟悉星空的朋友,那便会知道:呀,那个光点名叫仙女座星系,又或者称为M31;它发出的光要经过约220万才能到达地球,它的质量是我们银河系的两倍,等等。或许你还能继续想到,它上面也许也有和我们一样的智慧生物,这时也在遥望着我们银河系;而且他们和我们一样,能用前脚趾弹钢琴,用后脚趾开车,等等。也许,那上面的智慧生物,也有一个繁荣的、热闹的、生机勃勃的世界,也有着琐碎繁杂、但却趣味无穷的生活,我们银河系的光芒,我们的光芒,也能给他们带去不甚真实,但却美好的遐想……
你会不会又感到万分奇妙呢?你看,我们在这儿,而且也只能在这儿,甚至连小小的地球都很难走遍,可却知道近乎无限远之外的另外一个星系是这样的,而且还能想象它可能是怎样的。
好了,收起这些不断发展思绪,请再细细着注视着这张照片。如果有机会,也可以到夜空下,亲眼看看它。
从我看它的第一眼到现在已经有十二年的时间了,也给许多朋友指过它,“看,那是M31,和我们银河系一样的星系,我们肉眼能看到最远的天体,……”,但我几乎没有真真正正地意识到,我在看的是什么,我在做的是什么。仅仅是在好奇地看一样东西,就好像新生的小鸡好奇地向窝外张望吗?
直到一个深秋的晚上,为申请天文的Ph.D.忙得焦头烂额的时候,我偶尔看到了那张照片,忽然意识到了一份一直该有、但却近乎从来没有的感动。
我们的世界其实很大,广袤无垠;充满了各种各样的奇观,简约,但激动人心。
但我们的世界又很小,我们为许许多多更小的事情包围着,沮丧,唉声叹气。生活固然如此,但我们不应该忽略了那个大的、奇妙的世界。
我知道明天我又得投入繁杂的申请、文书、证明、盖章中去。大可不必等到人类万劫不复的一日来让我这丁点心得和感动销声匿迹,我明天、甚至待会儿就会把它抛到九霄云外。
但宇宙最大的奇迹,我想,不在于它本身是个奇迹,而是在于这个奇迹能被意识到。想想看,我们看上一万次却未必能意识到一次,虽然颇可笑,但仅此一次,也足够了。
所以,请再看看M31。你在看的不仅仅是一缕光。它是一样神圣的东西,远远在我们那些微不足道的小事之上。
廿一年十一月十三日
最近博客确实更新得很少。不过,我觉得没必要像印刷报纸一样写博客。不鸣则已,到了有了感觉的时候,立即把自己关起来,一吐为快,这就对了。可惜生活确实挺喧嚷,能把自己关起来的时候也是挺少的。不过今晚我挺幸运,可以在一个安静的环境下写这篇小文,这里要带一点歉意地感谢一下SS同学的配合啰。
秋日拾趣
Nov 5th
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实验室新概念计划的另一产品:天空摄像系统,这是二号摄像头拍摄到的11月5日日出,镜头方向是广州市区。可惜原始文件实在太大了(~50M),压缩得几乎没有味道以后还是有3M左右,就请各位多多包涵啦。
北风劲吹,气温骤降,又一个夏天过去了。
2号下午风特大,从气象站的读数来看,已经和一般的台风天差不多了,就打算和SS同学上实验室楼顶去放风筝。临出门前我又叫SS去拿手持风速计。我多年没放过风筝,印象中“起飞”过程颇有难度,怎料这天风确实了得,把风筝往上一扔,马上就飘起来了——不仅仅是飘,而是“飚”,转盘几乎拉不住。SS一上来,就问风筝在哪,我说:“在那!”SS说:“让我来。”交接仪式尚未结束,只觉手里一松,风筝同学就远走高飞啦。
风筝放了还不到一分钟就飞走了,加上那顶风筝之前只放过一次,我们都颇不甘心,于是便骑车出去寻找。
我和SS兵分二路,在某路口会合,都没发现。失望之余,正打算上车前进,却正好和挂在荆棘丛中的风筝打了个照面!于是营救行动开始。
风筝只放了一分钟,把风筝弄出来可足足用了差不多两个小时。
风筝主体卡在陡坡上一片两个人高的荆棘里头,而风筝线则先是在坡上的一棵树上绕了一圈,然后绕到荆棘里头一棵大约4-5人高的树上,之后又垂到地上,营救难度确实不小。不过有一句老话,“解铃还须系铃人”。我们研究了半天,决定借助风力把风筝弄出来。在折腾了一个小时之后,忽然吹来一阵强风,我扯着线顺势一拉,风筝总算从荆棘丛里出来了;可问题是风落了以后,它正好飘到了那棵高高的树上,而且正好卡在树杈里,再也不动了。
正当我们一筹莫展之际,来了一名能源公司的工作人员,他很热心地走过来帮忙,最后通过把线扯断的方式让风筝重新回到地面,营救行动结束。我们向他道谢,他回答,“不用谢!我也很喜欢放风筝。”哟,原来遇到高手了。
连风筝带线弄回实验室,在SS和CC的艰苦工作之下,总算把线重新连起来了。这时俊文师弟也来了,我和SS提议说再放一刻钟,于是一行四人又跑上楼顶放风筝。
这时天色已晚,蒙蒙的月亮刚刚升起。在月光下放风筝也挺有味道。
有了下午的教训,我们格外小心,俊文把线缠在手上,我绞着转盘,CC和SS监测风筝的一举一动——因为风力过猛,以至于有几回我们担心它会缠在不远处的风速仪上。我可没法想象实验室的老师发现缠着风筝的风速仪的时候脸上的表情,我们费了不小的力气才保证风筝不要跑到不该跑的地方去。
等到大家终于尽兴了以后,我们发现另外一个问题——风筝差不多收不回来了。我和俊文好像和一大群胖子拔河一样,转盘不是一圈一圈地转——而是一度一度地转了。遇上风一猛,我们就得好像冲锋的士兵一样把身子一弯,好保证风筝不要又远走高飞。经过半个小时的拉锯战以后,我们总算把风筝按住了,赶紧溜下楼,好像一不留神它又会逃上去似的。我和俊文的手都酸痛极了。
用这么一次放风筝活动作为秋天的开始还是很有趣的。
Flying over Arctic, back home
Oct 20th
Back home safe! Here ends my longest and furthest, and the my first around-the-world journey. Only two continents out of seven -- Africa and Antarctica -- yet to be reached.
It seems the 16-hour flight was long and boring to many passengers, but to me it's again an exciting adventure. According to my GPS, we reached 87.5N -- only a little more than 200km from the point where all longitude lines meet together!!! This will probably hold my "north limit" record for quite a long time. I observed a nice aurora show (although not gorgeous but still nice) when flying over the Davis Strait, saw half of Orion went down into the icy cap when flying over northern Greenland, again a nice Arctic sunrise with sun rising from the south. The cloud finally block the view when the plane fly over Siberia, force me to sleep for a few hours before viewing another beautiful sunset at 13,000m. A 4-hour old new moon was also been spotted!
Under the Stars and the Stripes
Oct 19th
Again, writing in rush before departure... and this post shall be the finale of this journey. I'll go to the bus terminal in an hour and catch the bus to Newark for my return flight to Hong Kong (another 16 hours!) But according to the most recent route, the flight may again come close to the North Pole (although my seat is actually facing south), probably closer than the flight I came here. On the other hand, a CME outburst is just detected by satellites, and an aurora activity around Oct. 19 is predicted, let's see if I can catch it "in the air"!
While in New York I met astronomer Tony Hoffman, a very friendly New Yorker, and he guided me around the Museum of Natural and History; now for the next stop, Boston, I again plan to meet astronomers, the friendly staffs of the Minor Planet Center's director Tim Spahr. I met my sister's fiance Song who is studied as a Ph.D. student at Boston upon arrival at the bus terminal, and went to Harvard University in the next day. However I unexpectedly met two Chinese graduate students, among them there is Li Zeng, an old friend of mine but drop-out-of-radar for several years. I had a nice chat with all the friends, old or new, meet-before or newly-meet, and this marked a very nice Boston trip. What's more, Song and Li invited me for some Chinese meals and I temporary no need to eat hamburgers during the two days (I ate them all day long since they are probably the only affordable and easy-to-find food to me in the U.S.)
I also paid a short visit of the city. Boston downtown is very small, and I spent no more than an afternoon to explore it. But the roads are quite complex and it's easy to get lost! To make things worse my GPS cannot capture signal there.
It began to rain a few hours before I left Boston, unfortunately it's not cold enough to snow. According to the NWS reports I was already close to the snow area, but this time I missed it again. Song drove me to the railway station and I would catch the Amtrak train to Washington.
It's said that Amtrak service often suffered from heavy delay, but the train I caught didn't. The seats were large and comfortable (comparable to business class of airplane) and I sleep well. I was in a good mood when arriving Washington in twilight.
Unfortunately it was again a cold day with rain. Washington subway is relatively modern compare with New York's and Boston's, but the fare policy is not as simple as those two cities. I dropped my big bag at the hostel and only get my small bag with the city tour. You may just walk around to visit most attractions at Washington, as they are all locate around the Washington Monument. This is quite convenient.
I arrived the White House at 6:30 p.m. Where was Obama? Well, probably he was in office to avoid the cold and rainy weather, I saw no one in the open air.
The next day I got a Greyhound ride to my last stop of the American journey: Philadelphia. The first impression was not good at all, comparing to New York, Boston and Washington it appeared to be small, dirty, and the some citizens appeared to be bad-behaviour. Philadelphia has a horrible nickname, "Killadelphia", because of its high crime rate. But the Apple YHA was said to be the No.1 hostel in North America and indeed it's the best YHA I had ever visited, a detail map and guide was placed on my bed upon my arrival, so I still spend longer in the city than I expected. The narrow, old streets seem to be interested and full of historic smell, but due to the safety reason I didn't visit much of them.
So here ends my longest, farthest journey from home. But another 16-hour Arctic adventure is waiting for me -- let's see what's there!
Big Apple is magical
Oct 16th
Look at that! A boy with a big bag walks in a tremendous speed along the famous Time Square 42nd Street, hey, I'm feeling rather cool. Here is the Big Apple, City of New York!
Hong Kong has a nickname, goes "Asian World City", now here is New York, absolutely the American World City. Walking down at 42nd Street, I have heard at least 6 languages -- English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese in 5 minutes time. I'm even be recornized as a New Yorker, answering questions about how to go to the Bus Terminal for five times during my 3-day visit. I got surprise about how many non-European faces I have found in the subway trains, but surely a large fraction of them are New Yorkers! By the way, the New York subway system is also the most complex subway system I have ever encountered, even compare to the Tokyo's. Their entrances are difficult to find. My sense of direction gets quite a challenge here.
I could never imagine that a big city can be magical, but Big Apple does! Just pay a visit to the overcrowded Wall Street and downtown Manhattan, and the colorful Time Square 42nd Street and Broadway at night, then peaceful the Central Park. Even no need to mention the Statue of Liberty, unimaginable-large Musuem of Natural History and Mentropolitan Musuem, or the Empire State Building.
The last night at New York I went to the Carnegie Hall for a performance by Philadelphia Orchestra, my first oversea concert. I'll write about that later.
Okay, my blog writing is always behind schedule -- I'm now going to the railway station to catch the train from Boston to Washington now. It appears there are not much to see at Washington and Philadelphia (to be accurate, that's because I'm adviced to be stayed at the hostel at night by many friends at those cities. I hang out in New York and Boston at everynight night, but Washington and Philadelphia are said to be much more dangrous, so I must take care on this). Certainly there are lots photos but I suppose many of you have already seen many NYC photos, so I will temporary hold them for later process instead of post for hurry.
Hanging out in Puerto Rico
Oct 12th
Sorry for the behind-schedule update, I was busy at all times, and when I wasn't, I was tired. But I'll still write some lines here.
On Friday most talks were not on my list, so I went to Palomino Island -- a small remote island about 15 minutes ferry time from El Conquistador. It's my fault for not bringing a swimsuit to here, the sea is remarkably clear and I can see many things in the water, it must be the best beach site I have ever been. I did a roundabout over the island and then walking in the sea when it's pretty shallow to walk without a swimsuit.
On Saturday, here comes the most excited tour -- the Arecibo Observatory. Big thanks to LOC Michael Nolan's arrangement, all the visitors were able to visit the platform -- which is only available to VIP visitors. The platform tour seems to be somewhat dangrous -- we have to walk for over 300 meters for a catwalk that is about 200 meters above ground, and the 900-ton platform is support by several guys and is also in the air. But surely it's among the most exciting things I have ever done!
Here ends my days in Puerto Rico -- it can't be better. I flew to New York in the morning of Oct. 11 and here began the trip in the east coast. I took a large number of photos at Palomino Island and Arecibo Observatory, please be patient -- I'll see if I can process them during the 16-hour flight from Newark to Hong Kong, here I just give you a "taste". I'll complete my visit at New York on Oct. 14 and will take a Greyhound bus to Boston.
Meeting Day 3/4: Well done!
Oct 9th
Sorry for not getting something to write yesterday, I went to the banquet in the evening and had no time for the blog.
Everything went rather fine. Great people, great talks, great discussions, although it takes time for someone to intergret into a group, I feel I have learn much lots of things. I still get a lot of things to do and have a long way to go, but nevertheless I have a good start, all are good.
There are a number of brilliant youngests in America, I met some during the poster session, and there was an undergraduate named Melissa Haegert who gave a talk about her YORP study and receive quite a clapping from the big-names. Woo, simply brilliant there. With a lot of brilliant guys similar to your age around you just get more energy to work hard.
There were a couple of people came to my poster and interacted with me, it's my fault that I didn't prepared a well-organized oral presentation for them. My presentation must be somewhat scrappy, but the conversasion generally end up with "nice job" and "thank you" so I still feel fine. Prof. Bobby Bus, a big-name scientist who had a poster a few steps from mine, received a lot of attention, I planned to step forward and ask him questions, but he was so popular so I didn't even get a chance to speak! Instead I drifted around and continuely paced myself into the professional world by talk something with the poster authors, generally every conversasion went pretty fine, I was even talk something in-depth with professors from Cal Tech, MIT and JPL since I was doing something very close to them, that's great. Although still quite far from native students, my oral English for serious acadamic discussion had greatly improved. I was even lucky enough to have lunch with Dr. Alan Harris and Dr. Petr Pravec and sitting next to Dr. Peter Jenniskens during the banquet -- and have a great discussion with them!
It's sad that time flies quick, we are approaching the end of the meeting, but tomorrow I would like to listen to some talks on TNO -- and try to arrange a time to a nearby small island for sightseeing and then move to Fajardo Inn since there are no spaces at El Conquistador in Friday night. I have signed up the tour to the famous Arecibo Observatory (yes, the "huge disk" which has been appeared in a number of fiction movies!). Just when I was hanging from poster to poster, Michael Nolan (chair of this meeting and one of the heads of Arecibo) step to me and ask if I would like to be listed in a limited-number platform tour waitlist. "You are coming long-way from China and certainly I'll try to arrange you a better trip!" Wow how good you are, Dr. Nolan!
Okay, my days at Puerto Rico are approaching to its end -- great day around. I will still have a week around New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, these big cities are said to be dangrous (thanks for warm-heart American friend Randy to advice me on this) and I will take care. But most Americans are really nice people!
Stay tuned for updates.
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