Green Bank Observatory, Highland Scenic Highway

After the end of the ONAPA (Ohio Natural Areas and Preserves) West Virginia field trip Joan and I spent the night at the Morning Glory Inn.

This is a very comfortable place to stay with generous breakfasts. It is also where I saw my first glow-in-the-dark toilet.

Green Bank Observatory

The next morning we set out for the Green Bank Observatory, where we would not only take the public telescope tour, but also the 1:30 SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) tour. The SETI tour requires advance registration (for screening) at least 48 hours in advance; Joan signed us up months before. Here is a map of the Green Bank grounds.

And here's a satellite view. Notice the GBT (Green Bank Telescope, or, Great Big Telescope) towards the left.

We arrived at the Science Center in time to sign up for a morning tour of the radio telescopes and to check out the interactive exhibits, which are very well done. The standard tour opens with a demonstration showing why cell phones and digital cameras must be turned off, to avoid interfering with the weak electromagnetic signals that the telescopes strive to detect. The GBT is sensitive enough, our guide claimed, to detect a cellphone on Mars, if pointed in that direction. (Film cameras are OK and disposable ones are for sale at the gift shop.) The pre-tour talk ended with a nifty demonstration of liquid nitrogen (used to chill and radio receptors and thus make them more sensitive), including droplets skittering down the hall.

We boarded a small bus, and on departing the Science Center passed several original or reconstructed historic radio telescopes; the discovery of radio waves emanating from the sky took place in 1932. Soon our guide was pointing out flags along our way. Each flag represented a planet, spaced proportionately, so Mercury, Venus, and Earth weren't far apart. Pluto would be out at the GBT.

Soon we reached the point of the last photograph. To avoid generating electromagnetic interference, cell phones and digital cameras must be turned off (not just asleep or in airplane mode) beyond this point, where an observation deck is provided for taking those last snapshots. This is the view towards the GBT in wide-angle.

Here's a closer look obtained by wildly cropping the above photo.

A whimsical look using the Deep Dream Generator.

The bus paused beside the various early telescopes, and the guide explained the history of each. The Observatory has a series of web pages that explain the history and activity of each telescope here. We ended up a short distance from the GBT and stepped out of the bus, but couldn't approach the telescope. It was completed in 2001, following the collapse of its predecessor in 1988.

Back at the Science Center, we grabbed a snack and some more minutes with the interactive exhibits. Then it was time for the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) tour. In this tour we would enter scope control rooms and labs, and stand under the GBT, so hard hats were required every time we got off the bus. Early on we visited the original control room used by Frank Drake, the author of the Drake Equation, and also heard tidbits about disputes and rivalries between astronomers.

The biggest thrill was visiting the GBT. We donned our hardhats and stood under it, watching its 8400 tons crawl slowly on massive railway-style trucks as it tracked objects. We became accustomed to its incremental pace, and then the GBT accelerated and slewed rapidly above us, switching to a different target. I held my breath in awe at standing under such a massive thing.  Highly recommended.  

The tour ended with cookies and a discussion of the Drake Equation and the SETI effort with a postdoc working at the Observatory. She ended her presentation on a wry note with this cartoon from XKCD:

Then it was back to the Morning Glory Inn for our final night of this expedition.

The Highland Scenic Highway

Joan and I began our return to Columbus by driving along the Highland Scenic Highway, a 43-mile National Scenic Byway in the Monongahela National Forest. Twenty-two of those miles are on a parkway,

similar to the well-known Blue Ridge Parkway, with pull-outs, 

informative signage, and hiking trails.

Our first walk was on the short Honeycomb Rocks trail.

The rocks are indeed striking in appearance (but please don't touch).

Creating them took hundreds of millions of years. The forming of the Appalachian mountains folded strata of sandstone and kaolinite, forcing fractures in the rock. Later hot, acidic, iron-bearing water entered the fractures and dissolved the sandstone and kaolinite, leaving behind hematite, a form of iron oxide. Further erosion of the surrounding sandstone left the harder, iron-rich material exposed.

We stopped at several pullouts, and then hiked to the Glades Overlook, checking out the Cranberry Glades that we had visited two days before.

A short distance down the road we took the High Rock trail. At the end there was a wide view into the valley below, the Stamping Creek watershed.

After exhausting the parkway section, but still on the Highland Scenic Highway, we checked out the Falls of Hills Creek. This popular trail heads downhill and delivers a hiker to three successive waterfalls of 25, 45, and 63 feet. The first waterfall was difficult to photograph due to vegetation, but after continuing on the trail and down stairways, Joan and I arrived at the foot of the middle falls.

Using zoom,

Then descending further,

we arrived at the lower falls.

Unfortunately someone had built a medium sized rock inuksuk on the level plane of rock atop the falls, detracting from the natural setting. Joan and I were both tempted to dismantle it, but decided, not today. We had yet a long ways to reach home. After the uphill chug back to the parking lot we piled into our car and began taking shifts driving back.

Our visit to this part of West Virginia revealed a whole new world to us. Thank you, ONAPA, for giving us a reason to be there.