Caretaker's Corner

Ivan J. Eberle

It's early July, and things are looking up on Chews Ridge, home and habitat of MIRA's 36-inch telescope. Since March 1, it's been my home and habitat, too. Living on the Monterey Peninsula for ten years, I've kept alert for interesting locations to do my wildlife photography and writing. The caretaker's position at the Oliver Observing Station came open just as Hale-Bopp was making its naked-eye debut. How could I resist? Even a viciously pelting sleet storm on move-in day couldn't stop me. This has been a great spring to live and work in Los Padres National Forest. I've called in and photographed the tom bobcat that lurks in the Coulter pines just below the observatory, and made peace with the fox that gets into my compost (he keeps digging the hole up, I keep filling it in). Swallowtail, Monarch, Checkerspot, Blue, Copper and Admiral butterflies continuously flutter by. Horned, alligator, and western whiptail lizards scoot and skitter. Birdsong provides the music, sun-up to sun-down. With all the wildflowers and native chaparral species like green-stemmed ceanothus in bloom, the air is sweet with nectar. The unusually dry spring after a wet early start means not only that the shrub growth has been terrific this year but also, unfortunately, that our fire-season promises to be long and extremely hazardous. Brush has been steadily encroaching on the fire-safety zone around the Astronomer's Quarters at OOS. After consulting with Forest Service personnel, I've begun an ambitious fire-hazard abatement project on the slope to the east. The work is slow, but rewarding-an added benefit is that the views of the Sierra de Salinas, the Gavilans, and the Sierra (yes, occasionally the Sierra Nevada!) -- and the really good news is, there’s no poison oak! The slope will eventually be replanted in fire-resistant perennial native bunch grasses. If you think you might be able to assist with brush-clearing this season, please call Laura Cohan at the Astronomy Center (408) 883-1000, or me, Ivan Eberle, at (408) 373-8476 (please leave a message). Let us know what tools you can bring and what blocks of time you might have available. If enough Friends of MIRA are interested, we can schedule a star party and make an event of it!

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An early test image with MIRA’s new CCD sensor, acquired with a grant from the Hoover Foundation. As soon as testing is complete, this CCD, made up of about 400,000 individual sensors, will be attached to the MIRA spectrograph on Chews Ridge. It will be especially effective in measuring the spectra of faint stars.

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