Each of the events in the database is accompanied by a latitude and longitude, allowing the events to be located on a map. The animation below shows a visualisation of some of the events. The video covers events from July 2009 to December 2009. Orange flashes show areas of live music activity. Major venues are labelled. Each frame in the video covers one hour of real time.

View the video in fullscreen to make the venue labels readable.

Visualising Newcastle’s Live Music Scene from Andrew Goodwin on Vimeo.

This animation uses less than 10% of the gig archive database. The full dataset extends from Gosford in the South, to Taree in the North, and West to Merriwa in the Upper Hunter Valley. Gigs were recorded for a period of 4 years from October 2006 to December 2010.

The full archive of past events can be viewed at the NewcastleMusic.com Gig Archive.

Apparently iPhones running iOS4 periodically record the device’s Latitude and Longitude and timestamp in one of the numerous SQLite databases in phone’s backup and configuration system. Several sites have provided methods of extracting the filename from encrypted backup filesystem. Once located, the contents of the file in question can be investigated using any number of techniques including the SQLite Manager plugin for Firefox.

This system of logging the location of the iPhone to file has been in use for some time, as pointed out in this excellent blog post by Alex Levinson, co-author of the book iOS Forensic Analysis.

Many news reports have claimed that this information is not transmitted back to Apple, but this revealing post from F-Secure Security Labs suggests that by default this location information is sent back to Apple twice a day so that Apple may collate a database of Wi-Fi locations.

The co-ordinates stored in the location database are also readily available to any iPhone application installed on the phone through the iOS API. About halfway down the page in the What’s New in iOS 4 page on the apple website we find this quote:

Background location – Navigation apps can now continue to guide users who are listening to their iPods, or using other apps. iOS 4 also provides a new and battery-efficient way to monitor location when users move between cell towers. This is a great way for your social networking apps to keep track of users and their friends’ locations.

Visualising The Data

Since I had access to the raw data in a convenient SQLite database format, I decided to create my own visualisation. I wrote a PHP script that selected some of the rows from the tracking database and generated a series of images using PHP’s GD Image Library. The location of each point was highlighted orange and allowed to fade gradually over time, creating a “heatmap” effect.

The resulting animation shows the location of my iPhone during the period July 2010 to April 2011. During that period I made several interstate trips, but this animation focuses on the Sydney, Newcastle, Hunter Valley and Port Stephens areas.

At the beginning of the tracking period I lived in Sydney, but traveled to Newcastle regularly for work. Numerous hotspots can be seen in the Wyong area, this is because I usually stop at the Twin Service Stations at Wyong to break up the journey along the F3. Here I usually check my email and make a few phone calls. Later parts of the animation show more activity in Newcastle and ends with a recent holiday to Port Stephens.

The animation is also available in High Definition on YouTube.

In total there were 4181 rows of co-ordinates in my tracking file, each one with a timestamp and estimated horizontal accuracy. The information was inside a table called called “cellLocation”. The dataset went back some 275 days. Presumably the collection of gelocation information in this file began when I installed iOS4 in the middle of last year.

Clearly, storage of such information in an unencrypted format by default on every iPhone in the world could be a potential privacy issue, but it’s not like this information hasn’t been collected before. Google, Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter all collect information on the whereabouts of it’s users whenever they can. These companies gain access to the more accurate information as they have access to the device’s built-in GPS. Each time you check in on foursquare, tag yourself in a Facebook place, or geotag your tweets you are explicitly opting in to these information collection services.

What’s different this time is that now the end user has the ability to actually view the information that is being collected about their location by their mobile devices.

This one of the first times that this information has been so readily accessible. Over 100 Million iPhones have been sold, making this one of the most widely and publicly available geolocation datasets. Unfortunately, this information is fragmented across tens of millions of computer in the form of iPhone’s backup files.

Various open source applications are appearing that allow users to visualise their movements based on the contents of the iPhone tracking file. Form example, an OSX application released by Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden, and a Java applicationn that outputs the waypints in .kml format ready for viewing in Google Earth.

I can say from my own experience that reviewing the location information from my own phone was a thought provoking exercise. I started wondering who collects information about my location. I’ve already mentioned Twitter, Foursquare, Facebook etc. but there’s many more less obvious examples of tracking going on.

The geolocation information has been derived from the location of nearby cell towers. Information of this nature is collected by mobile providers so they know which cell tower to route the current call through. The Latitude and Longitude seems to be accurate to within a few kilometers at worst.

My current mobile carrier, Optus, would have a wealth of information about my whereabouts at any point in time. The data they have would be almost exactly the same as the information I extracted from the iPhone database.

Mobile carriers collect this information routinely

We can’t stop the mobile carriers from collecting this information because they need it for the the robust and efficient operation of their network. What we should be doing however is questioning is what their policy with respect to this information once they collect it.

For example:

• Exactly what information is collected and retained
• How long will they retain this information.
• What is the carriers policy on giving up this information to third parties (Advertisiers, partner companies, law enforcement).

The location of a users phone at a particular time location is routinely used in criminal cases. This is how former Justice Einfeld was convicted of lying under oath in early 2009. Police then used mobile phone records to trace Einfeld as he drove south over the Spit Bridge.

If the mobile phone companies are willing to give up this data for case involving a speeding fine, then they are very likely to be willing to divulge the same information to authorities under more serious circumstances.

I’m hoping this post raises awareness of the fact that location information can be, and is being collected from every mobile phone user. Perhaps in the near future it will be routine to ask more about your mobile carrier’s privacy and data retention policies when choosing a network.

Occasionally, I use twitter to broadcast information about local events through the @newcastlemusic account. For example, one of my recent tweets was about the Newcastle Improvised Music Association (NIMA). The association is organising weekly jazz nights at the Grand Hotel in Bolton St, Newcastle. That’s Newcastle, NSW, Australia, not just any Newcastle.

Within a few hours that information had been retweeted by @NewcastlePlaces. All well and good you may well say … except that they had linked to a map for the event that placed it somewhere in the UK. The Schmap indicated that the jazz nights would be taking at The Grand Hotel in Newcastle Upon Tyne.

I replied to their tweet and, to their credit, they removed the tweet and the map immediately, however the incident made me curious. How did this happen? Had it happened to anyone else? So I took a look at their account to see what their other tweets were like.

Places and Events in Newcastle. Indeed, but which Newcastle?

The @NewcastlePlaces account had tweeted nearly 800 times. The bulk of the tweets were regurgitating someones elses information about an upcoming event, then adding a handy map for the event on the Schmap.it service. Their twitter icon featured an image of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK, so I assume the operators of the account are based there. The majority of their followers seem to be from the North East of England.

Schmap’s about page describes the service as ” … a location technology service provider and local publisher, with cutting-edge expertise at the intersection of local, social, commercial and the real-time web”.

If they’d made a mapping mistake with my tweet, perhaps they’d made others too.

So, using a little local knowledge, I decided to read through their most recent 400 tweets to see if I could find some more #schmapfail. To my astonishment I identified 60 tweets that contained a Schmap showing an incorrect location.

Here is an example of one of their more recent mapping failures:

RT @1233newcastle A protest is being held at the top of King Edward Park against the redevelopment of th… http://schmap.it/3QTQrx?a <--MAP
5:44 PM Feb 23rd via schmap.it

Schmap showing incorrect location for the King Edward Park protest

This tweet was posted by 1233 ABC Newcastle, a radio station located in Newcastle, NSW, Australia. For some inexplicible reason, @NewcastlePlaces had mapped the protest as taking place at the King Edward VI School in Morpeth, UK, over 15,000 km away from it’s actual location.

Another recent mapping failure involved a retweet of @mediahunter‘s callout for interns for autumn 2011 at Sticky. @Mediahunter is a prominent Twitter user from Newcastle, NSW, Australia. His twitter profile clearly states that he is indeed based in Newcastle, Australia.

Map for Sticky: http://schmap.it/Sn2WQv?a – RT @mediahunter Closing applications today for Autumn internships at Sticky. Hurry!!! http://…
Tuesday, 15 February 2011 9:58:56 AM via schmap.it

Map showing incorrect location for Sticky

The Schmap incorrectly indicates that Sticky Ads is located at 152 Hawthorn Road, Ashington, a small suburb located about 20km North of Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK. This is in fact the location of Sticky Fingers, a takeaway food shop.

Here’s yet another example that should have raised some eyebrows. The tweet specifically mentions that the poster is at “Australia’s most famous beach”. Yet somehow the Schmap ends up pointing to a small frozen food supplier in Gateshead, UK.

Icebergs: http://schmap.it/RIqs3H?a – RT @Maya_Abeille It was lunch at Icebergs at Australia’a most famous beach (baked herb encrusted se…
Wednesday, 5 January 2011 3:40:51 PM via schmap.it

Lunch at Icebergs at Australia's most famous beach

One final example, this time involving the location of a dead body.

Body in Singleton pool: Police are investigating the discovery of a body in a backyard p… http://schmap.it/JstXbT?a (via @newcastleherald)
Friday, 22 October 2010 9:59:35 AM via schmap.it

A dead body, located at Singleton, Winn, Saunders Solicitors by schmap

So the #schmapfail suggests that there was a body at 232 Shields Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne. This is in fact the location of the offices of Singleton Winn Saunders Solicitors. I’m sure they appreciate the insinuation that they are connected with a murder case.

So we can see a pattern emerging here. I imagine the process that @NewcastlePlaces follows goes like this:

1. Search through the tweets of anyone who’s twitter location contains the word “Newcastle”
2. Determine if they are tweeting about an event
3. Search for a business in the Newcastle Upon Tyne area that matches the event location
4. Retweet and include a Schmap that points to the UK business

It’s not hard to see why this process fails so often. Someone from Newcastle Australia is hardly going to be tweeting about an event in the North East of the UK.

In addition to the 60 incorrectly mapped tweets I identified there were also five apologies. Presumably these were responding to people who had complained about their events being incorrectly mapped.

All five apologies are listed below:

@newcastlemusic Oh, thanks for the info. We’ve already removed the tweet.
Thursday, 17 February 2011 2:03:39 PM via schmap.it

@SCOLLEYart thanks for letting us know, we have removed the RT
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 1:47:17 AM via schmap.it

@dmilor whoops! thanks for letting us know, we have removed the RT
Saturday, 12 February 2011 2:25:40 AM via schmap.it

@BacchusHeather we have removed the RT
Wednesday, 26 January 2011 3:09:54 AM via schmap.it

@Bibbleq oh dear, well if you give us the correct address we can fix the schmap for you … or we can also delete the tweet if you like
Wednesday, 15 September 2010 7:38:28 PM via schmap.it

Sixty-five Schmaps out of four hundred means a SchmapFail rate of 16%.

Is this a twitter account you want to be relying on for your local event information?

Each of the frames of this animation were generated using PHP and the GD library.

1. The first triangle constructed is called a supertriagnle. It is an equalateral triangle that entirely contains the convex hull of the points to be triangulated. The vertices of this construction will be removed in the last step, leaving the triangulated network.
2. Points to be triangulated are added one by one. The list of points is ordered by their y co-ordinate.
3. The horizontal red line shown in the animation shows the advancing front. This is a horizontal line passing through the y co-ordinate of the most recent point added to the network.
4. Circumcircles pass through the three vertices of each triangle in the network. As each additional point is added to the structure, triangles who’s circumcircle contains the new point are identified. These circumcircles are drawin in red and their associated triangles highlighted yellow and removed.
5. New triangles are formed between the most recently inserted point and the segments of the void left after removing the flagged triangles.
6. The speed of the algorithm is improved by flagging all triangles who’s circumcircle is entirely behind the advancing front. Triabngles below this line no longer require testing in point 4 above. These are identified in green and then added to the pool of dark grey triangles that no longer need to considered with the addition of each new point.
7. After the final point is added, the vertices of the supertriangle and any triangles that share these vertices are removed.

The article described how The Seabellies, a relatively successful local band, were travelling to Melbourne to play a gig on Saturday night. Realising that the gig would coincide with Earth Hour, they planned to participate by turning off the lights at some point during their performance.

The Seabellies

Steph Setz, keyboard player, said the Seabellies would switch the lights off for at least one song and rely on a crowd armed with glow sticks to provide light.

The Newcastle Herald article received some particularly thought provoking comments from members of the public including this one from “James”:

The entire band drives/flies all the way to Melbourne and back in the space of 2 days and then claims to be supporting the principles behind Earth Hour? They even have the audacity to state that “every little bit, at work and home, counted when it came to cutting carbon emissions”. Astonishing hypocrisy.
Posted by James, 23/03/2010 3:39:54 PM

This got me thinking … about just how much carbon dioxide does a light bulb generate compared to travelling by car or air? With this question in mind, I used an online greenhouse gas emissions calculator to calculate the impact of the band’s travel to Melbourne.

What I found was that the band will generate about 1 tonne of CO₂ emissions if they drive two small petrol driven cars to Melbourne and back. Alternatively, if all 6 members chose to fly, they will generate about 3 tonnes of CO₂.

Compare this with emissions caused by lighting. The electricity that powers a modern light globe creates about 10 grams of CO₂ per hour. Driving the band to Melbourne and back would create as much emissions as leaving a light globe on for 100,000 hours! If they fly then they’ll generate as much CO₂ as a light globe would in 300,000 hours, or an astonishing 34 years of operation!

The relative impact of a single fossil fuel powered journey far outweighs any savings that could be made by switching off a few light bulbs for an hour. Unfortunately I think the relative magnitude of the contributions of various daily activities to ones carbon footprint is lost on most Australian citizens.

Air travel can generate a surprising amount of CO2 per journey

I should point out that this blog post is not intended to be critical of The Seabellies themselves. Indeed, my own band, Erin, has travelled similar distances for gigs in the past. For example, in March 2008 we travelled over 4000 km in two cars through regional NSW and Victoria to attend the Port Fairy Folk Festival. Additionally, I am very fond of international travel and dread to think what the carbon footprint of my history of air travel would be.

What concerns me here is the way that many Australians are seemingly unwilling to modify their lifestyle in order to reduce emissions. Even worse, I believe that events such as Earth Hour can make people complacent, leaving them with a sense that they have done something substantial to reduce their emissions. This false sense of accomplishment may make it easier for them to justify not making any additional changes to their lifestyle on the other 364 days of the year.

I think we should be using Earth Hour to highlight the impact of ALL our daily activities on our carbon footprint.

Reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is going to take more than just turning off some lights for an hour.

Seabellies image courtesy of Michael Spencer. Smokestack image courtesy of Colin Purrington. Boeing 767 image courtesy of superciliousness.

Passing through Quirindi on our way South #dishtour 11:44 AM Nov 22nd, 2009

The long drive home

Lunch at Muswellbrook RSL. Almost home. Day 4 of #dishtour 12:36 PM Nov 22nd, 2009

We visited SUSI, ACTA, MOPRA, ATNF, the AAT at the AAO, the UKST, the HAT-South (operated by the RSAA), inspected the FTS and even watched a RAVE. Since we seemed to visit acronym under the sun I thought I’d finish with a photograph this great T-Shirt worn by one of the scientists we met at the ATCA.

T-Shirt of the year

Day 3 of #dishtour. Heading to Narrabri to see the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI). Hoping the air conditioning holds out. 7:34 AM Nov 21st, 2009

It was really hot this day, around 44 degrees or so. Everyone was happy to take advantage of air conditioning wherever it was available.

Chose a hell of a time to travel around central NSW looking at telescopes. 3 days in a row of 40+ temps. #dishtour 5:35 PM Nov 21st, 2009

As we were leaving Coonabarabran I spotted this motorcycle. Totally set up for touring I just can’t believe that such a vehicle could be controlled. Wouldn’t want to brake too quickly I’d imagine.

Brave Motorcyclist

It would take a brave and experienced motorcyclist to drive this I think: http://twitpic.com/qa1j9 Seen in Coonabarabran thismorning. 9:25 AM Nov 21st, 2009

The Mopra Telescope

On the way out of Coonabarabran we stopped at the MOPRA radio telescope.

MOPRA Telescope

The Mopra Radio Telescope has a 22-metre dish and is located in the Warrumbungle National Park near Coonabarabran. It is part of the Australia Telescope National Facility, operated by CSIRO. The name hails from the location of the facility close to Mopra Rock a geological formation overlooking the telescope.

The MOPRA radio telescope near Coonabarabran: http://twitpic.com/qam80 The detectors are cooled to -250 degrees with liquid helium #dishtour 11:43 AM Nov 21st, 2009

Mopra is controlled remotely from the ATNF facility near Narrabri.

Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF)

The ATNF operates the Australia Telescope which consists of the Compact Array at Narrabri and the Parkes and Mopra radio telescopes. These telescopes can be used together as a long baseline array for use in Very Long Baseline Interferometry. The facility is located about 25km west of Narrabri in rural NSW.

As we approached the facility we were confronted with signs telling us to turn off all radio transmitters as they may interfere with the equipment.

Turn off all radio transmitters

Not easy to tweet while visiting radio telescopes. They are necessarily built in remote locations far from mobile towers. #dishtour 9:07 AM Nov 21st, 2009

We took refuge from the heat inside the visitors centre and ate soggy sandwiches.

Lunch at the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) visitors centre

Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA)

After lunch we headed towards the Australian Telescope Compact Array control building. The ATCA is an array of six 22-m antennas used for radio astronomy.

Inside the Australian Compact Telescope Array control room

Our visit to the server room was welcome as it was cooled to about 10 degrees. Here we saw the banks of SUN computers that processed the data received by the dishes.

Inside the server room at the Australian Compact Telescope Array (ACTA) located near Narrabri, NSW: http://twitpic.com/qbxc9 #dishtour 5:12 PM Nov 21st, 2009

The view of these huge dishes perched on their tracks was an imposing sight. We paused on our way out to take a few more snapshots of these magnificant structures.

The Australian Compact Telescope Array (ACTA)

Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI)

Next up we headed towards the nearby Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI).

SUSI is a long-baseline optical interferometer. Interferometry is a technique that allows astronomers to improve the angular resolution of their observations. They can use this technique to determine the size of nearby stars. More about the interferometry technique on the SUSI webpage.

Sydney University Stellar Interferometer (SUSI)

Once inside the SUSI facility we were confronted with a huge array of optical equipment. Amazingly, the twin beams of light collected from the star being observed are recombined after matching the length of the light path to within one wavelength, causing the interference patterns required to complete the analysis. One wavelength of light equates to several hundred nanometres. For comparison, a sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick

Inside the SUSI Facility

The inside of the building was kept at a very constant temperature in order to achive the accuracy required. This was achieved by constructing a second shell inside the main building. The air between the two shells acted as an insulator to help minimise temperature fluctuations in the innermost compartment.

Thanks to the team at the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer for the fantastic tour and for their insight into the facility. #dishtour 5:38 PM Nov 21st, 2009

An Evening in Narrabri

After a very hot day at the ATNF we returned to Narrabri where several people from the tour chose to cool off in the hotel pool before dinner.

How retro, this motel in Narrabri has a VCR #dishtour 6:21 PM Nov 21st, 2009

The group assembled in the bar and chatted before dinner was served. After the sun set we assembled in the hotel car-park to look at the sky through a Meade LX200 telescope. Once again we observed the moons of jupiter and several other objects.

Looking at the moons of Jupiter after 5 beers in a motel carpark in Narrabri. Looking through a Meade LX200 scope. #dishtour 9:29 PM Nov 21st, 2009

Stargazing in Narrabri

Continue to Day 4 of the Beyond The Dish Tour

After an early start in Parkes we headed North towards Coonabarabran.

Day two of #dishtour. About to head to Coonabarabran for a tour of the Anglo-Australian telescope at Siding Spring. 7:26 AM Nov 20th, 2009

We spent nearly two hours in the cafeteria/gift shop at Siding Spring Observatory, consuming the time with chatter amongst the tour members and a wander through the various exhibits.

Lunch at Siding Spring Observatory

While eating lunch I tweeted one of my stellar puns.

Lunch at the Siding Springs Observatory cafe. The prices are astronomical, but the food is out of this world. #dishtour 12:24 PM Nov 20th, 2009

Siding Spring Panorama - Anglo-Australian Telescope on Right

Siding Spring Observatory panorama: http://twitpic.com/q7gas #dishtour 6:56 PM Nov 20th, 2009

View Larger Map

The Siding Spring Observatory is situated 1,165 metres (3,820 ft) above sea level in the Warrumbungle National Park on Mount Woorat also known as Siding Spring Mountain. Siding Spring Observatory is owned by the Australian National University (ANU) and is part of the Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories research school. There are currently 12 telescopes on site.

The Anglo Australian Telescope (AAT)

The first telescope we looked at was the Anglo-Australian Telescope, a 3.9 m equatorially mounted telescope. The AAT was comissioned in 1974 and at the time was one of the largest telescopes in the Southern hemisphere.

Inside the Anglo Australian Telescope (AAT)

Each day the dome housing the AAT is cooled to the temperature forecast for that evening at the Siding Spring site. This reduces exchange of air when the dome is opened at night resulting in a clearer view of the night sky.

We were lucky enough to be lead through the Anglo Australian Telescope by Astronomer-in-Charge, Dr Fred Watson.

Just had an amazing tour right through the Anglo-Australian Telescope: #dishtour http://twitpic.com/q6s5y 3:01 PM Nov 20th, 2009

Faulkes Telescope South

Our next stop was the Faulkes Telescope South (FTS). This fully robotic 2m reflecting telescope is a clone of the Liverpool Telescope. It is used for research as well as by school children around the world via the internet.

Faulkes Telescope South

Inside the Faulkes Telescope South at Siding Spring, NSW: #dishtour http://twitpic.com/q74f6 4:36 PM Nov 20th, 2009

The Faulkes telescopes can also be found on Twitter at @faulkestel.

UK Schmidt Telescope

The UK Schmidt Telescope survey telescope with an aperture of 1.2 metres and a very wide-angle field of view. The telescope was commissioned in 1973 and was designed to photograph 6.6 x 6.6 degree areas of the night sky on plates 356 x 356 mm.

Schematic of the UK Schmidt Telescope

More recently the photographic plates have been replaced with an array of fibre-optic cables strategically located so each one can gather the spectra of an individual star within the telescope’s field of view.

Computer controlling the placement of the optical fibres

The individual fibre-optic cables are placed with the help of a robot as seen in the image below.

Robotic placement of optical fibres

The UKST is currently conducting the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). This is a survey that aims to measure the radial velocities and stellar atmosphere parameters (temperature, metallicity, surface gravity) of up to one million stars near the Sun.

Skymapper

SkyMapper is a surveying telescope which is able to quickly and deeply scan the nighttime skies. It was comissioned so recently (became operational in May 2009) that it still had the “new-telescope-smell”.

The SkyMapper is a fully automated telescope, 1.3m in diameter with an 8-sq degree field of view. It will provide a deep digital map of the southern sky which will allow astronomers to study everything from nearby objects such as asteroids in our solar system to the most distant objects in the universe called quasars.

The Skymapper Telescope

The data taken by the SkyMapper telescope will be shared with astronomers around the world via the Virtual Observatory initiative.

Other Telescopes at Siding Spring

We continued on to visit a number of other telescopes at the Siding Spring Observatory:

HAT-South

The HAT-South is a project to search for transiting extrasolar planets in the Southern Hemisphere. It uses a network of wide-field telescopes to monitor hundreds of thousands of bright stars, searching for the characteristic dip in light that occurs when a planet passes in front of its host star.

2.3 Metre Advanced Technology Telescope

The 2.3 Metre Advanced Technology Telescope was housed in a building that could rotate on it’s axis.

Rotating Building Housing the 2.3m Telescope

Spinning building in the foreground with the Anglo-Australian Telescope in the background: #dishtour http://twitpic.com/q74p5 4:39 PM Nov 20th, 2009

Stargazing near Coonabarabran

After a long hot day trekking around the Siding Spring Observatory site we headed back to our hotel in Coonabarabran for drinks and dinner.

Arrival in Coonabarabran

Spirits were high after our epic day of telescope inspections and we were all keen to get our hands on some smaller scopes and see some of the objects we had been discussing for ourselves.

Back at Coonabarabran, heading out later tonight for some viewing at a private observatory #dishtour 6:52 PM Nov 20th, 2009

After dinner we boarded the bus again and drove to the Warrumbungle Observatory where we watched an interesting presentation about the objects in the night sky. There were about 6 different telescopes set up on a concrete pad, each one programmed to point at and track a different object in the sky.

Amongst the objects we saw were Jupiter and it’s moons, a globular cluster, the Pleiades and Neptune.

There were also two larger telescopes set up in domes. People were encouraged to bring along digital SLR cameras as they could be attached to these larger scopes. Below is one of the images taken by someone on our tour. It shows the M42 Nebula, a large area of hydrogen gas from which stars are born. It lies at a distance of 1500 light years away and is 15 light years in diameter.

Photo of M42 - The Great Nebula in Orion

Have just returned from an awesome night of stargazing. Saw Jupiter + moons, nebulae, Neptune etc etc. 6 telescopes operating. #dishtour 10:54 PM Nov 20th, 2009

We drove past the Warrumbungle Observatory on our way out of Coonabarabran the next day and I managed to snap this image out the bus window. The Telescopes on the concrete pad had been moved inside but the two domes housing the larger scopes are still visible.

Warrumbungle Observatory by day

Continue to Day 3 of the Beyond The Dish Tour

Average age of fellow #dishtour travellers seems to be about 60. Aging geeks abound. 7:38 AM Nov 19th, 2009

I needn’t have been worried however because the people on the tour turned out to be an interesting and entertaining group. As the nights progressed the conversations became more and more engaging. Interacting with the other group members was actually one of the highlights of the tour for me.

Lunch stop in Orange

We drove west out of Sydney. After a brief rest stop at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains we stopped at Orange for lunch where I was more than impressed with the selection of meat offered by the pub.

The steak selection at this pub in Orange is far better than my local butcher has to offer: http://twitpic.com/q1uiz #dishtour 12:25 PM Nov 19th, 2009

Quality selection of steak in a pub in Orange, NSW

After lunch we continued our journey west towards the Parkes Radio Telescope.

Parkes Radio Telescope

The Parkes Observatory, is a 64-metre Telescope used for Radio Astronomy. Yes, this is “The Dish” as featured in the movie of the same name. It’s an inspiring structure that sits in an unassuming sheep paddock about 20km North of the town of Parkes in central NSW.

Parkes Radio Telescope

We were taken on a tour through the entire facility. Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to walk (or play cricket) on the dish itself.

Just went on a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Parkes radio telescope: http://twitpic.com/q2uon #dishtour 5:46 PM Nov 19th, 2009

Inside the control room of the Parkes radio telescope: http://twitpic.com/q2uxb #dishtour Our tour guide: http://twitpic.com/q2v1z 5:50 PM Nov 19th, 2009

The Astronomers Room at Parkes Radio Telescope

Inside the Parkes Radio Telescope

Atomic Clock at the Parkes Radio Telescope

Did you know that “The Dish” was built at exactly 33 degrees south to make it easier for boffins with their slide rule calcs? #dishtour 5:53 PM Nov 19th, 2009

The modern computers and the atomic clock on the wall are a far cry from the paper and slide-rules originally used to aim the dish.

Whiteboard inside Parkes Radio Telescope

An Evening in Parkes

Later that night we looked at the moons of Jupiter through a replica of the telescope Galileo used 400 years ago. It was amazing that even through this relatively primative scope we were able to clearly make out the disc of Jupiter and the four “Galilean moons“, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Replica Galilean Telescope

Watching a man dressed as Galileo explain the minute details of his replica 400 year old telescope #dishtour 9:18 PM Nov 19th, 2009

Beyond The Dish Tour Group in Parkes

If you’re interested in making your own replica Galilean telescope I managed to find some detailed instructions on how to do it.

Continue to Day 2 of the Beyond The Dish Tour

Proposed Route

First stop was “The Dish”, Parkes Radio Telescope. From Parkes the tour made it’s way North to the Anglo-Australian Observatory at Siding Spring Mountain, Coonabarabran. We then headed to the Australian Telescope Compact Array and the Sydney University Stellar Interferometer at Narrabri before heading back to Sydney.

The trip was lead by of University of Sydney astronomer Dr John O’Byrne, who gave informative commentary throughout the tour.

Whenever I had the chance I wrote about what was happening through the popular microblogging site Twitter. Each of the tweets was tagged with the hashtag #dishtour so I could easily collate them at a later date. For example:

Day 1 of #dishtour. En-route to Parkes … 6:08 AM Nov 19th, 2009

Follow the links below for a detailed description of the four day tour that went “Beyond The Dish”.

• Day 1 – Parkes Radio Telescope
• Day 2 – Siding Spring Observatory
• Day 3 – Australia Telescope National Facility
• Day 4 – Heading Home