Snowy Caldera

Originally uploaded by david

The Valles Caldera National Preserve is an incredible place. As National Lands go, this is on the newer side, and was just set aside a few years ago; it used to be the privately owned Baca Ranch, but luckily for us, it is now protected and open to the public. Nestled inside of a collapsed volcano caldera, the preserve features wide open spaces as well as stunning wooded areas. This photo is not the wooded area, however.

This represents another shot I have been waiting patiently for. I had the caldera, of course, but I wanted to show a panoramic scene filled with snow as far as the eye can see. And the eye can see really, really far in this photo, by the way. You might think this is “just” a snowy field. In that, you would be incorrect, I’m afraid. This particular scene measures somewhere around (as best as I can figure) two and one half miles from edge to edge. Miles. As in 13,200 feet (or just over 4,000 meters for you metric folks) from edge to edge. However, it gives you just the barest sense of the place; the grandeur, the beauty, the majesty are best experienced in person. Just be sure to breathe when you are looking at it, for it will take your breath away.

Alas, the small sizes of our monitors do not do justice to this panorama. It measures, in real life, several feet across when printed. But this gives you a good idea, at least. A couple of other notes of interest. This panorama is also the header of our main site, Fringe Innovations. And if you look on the left hand side, just in the shadow of the small hill in the middle, you can see Snowbound Ranch.

Snowbound Ranch

Uploaded by david

Winter.

A time of cold and a time of snow. And in this particular case, a time for a whole lot of that wonderful white powdery stuff.

This ranch is located within Valles Caldera National Preserve and from the looks of things, humans don’t bother with wintertime occupation. Who can blame them really, for it would probably take somewhere just this side of forever to get through all that snow. And make no doubt about it… this is a lot of snow. Those drifts are fairly significant.

This photo was taken late in the afternoon with the dying sun, providing the long shadows. The ranch sits in the lee of a small hill, casting it in shadow (and one would presume that whomever built this placed it quite intentionally); shadows that grow even longer during the late winter afternoon. If you look close, you can see that the structure has been left to its own devices.

The Valles Caldera National Preserve is an interesting place; one, at the moment, full of snow. But that just adds to the charm and serenity that holds it in thrall until the springtime thaw.

VLBA (Los Alamos)

Originally uploaded by david

What’s out there? Are we alone? Are the Universe’s mysteries right there waiting to be unlocked?

And how do we find out?

The answer is by doing a whole lot of dedicated research, using the tools that we have. One of those tools is the Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico. The VLA is a series of radio telescopes doing exactly this kind of research. You’ve probably heard of the VLA, or even seen it in a movie. This radio telescope, however, is not in Socorro. Or anywhere close. It is actually just outside of the Bandelier National Monument in Northern New Mexico (although it is considered to be in Los Alamos) and part of the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA). It is one of ten such isolated radio telescopes and a big part of the research the VLA is conducting. All together these ten form the world’s largest dedicated full time very long baseline interferometry instrument.

This is a 25m (82feet) dish antenna and is amazingly impressive close up (it is as tall as a 10 story building, which is none too short). However, I preferred this view of the radio telescope seemingly nestled in the snowy mountains.

So this radio telescope is pointed at the heavens, listening. Watching. Learning. Learning about radio galaxies, quasars, pulsars, supernovas and other really fun things out there. And piece by piece the mystery of what is out there is being unlocked.

Ojito Sunset

Originally uploaded by david

I’ve been chasing this particular sunset for over a week now. Last week was an absolutely glorious day: the skies were perfect and it was going to be a killer sunset out in the desert. I was out there, ready for it, but alas, things didn’t work out quite as planned. This week, however, was a different story.

The day dawned with the most beautiful skies–ah, but it was going to be perfect again. However, by the time the afternoon rolled around, so did the overcast clouds and the day was not cooperating. Still, I figured I would head to the desert, just because, just maybe, the clouds would magically be somewhere else. Yeah, right…I can delude myself with the best of them.

It was, in the end, a really wonderful drive in the desert; down a one lane (and that’s being generous) dirt road, full of ruts and axel-breaking bumps, random drop offs, and very steep hills that see the road turn at the top of the hill. In other words, what a cool place. Still, no sunset was happening because of the overcast clouds.

But while driving out of the desert, in my rear-view mirror the most magic sight appeared, but only for a moment. I slammed on the brakes and jumped out just as the sun slipped below a distant mesa. And exactly after it did, the clouds parted, briefly, ever, ever so briefly and the desert lit up, just for me.

It was a glorious day!