My first goal in life was to become an astronomer, and I got my first telescope when I was 11 years old (see picture to the right), a refractor with 100× amplification.
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First telescope |
Robert Eklund’s Science & Technology Page |
Voilą! A sundry collection of some of the things that make me tick, starting here with Science & Technology. Please observe that Music, Travel, and Wildlife have their own pages. |
Astronomy |
My first goal in life was to become an astronomer, and I got my first telescope when I was 11 years old (see picture to the right), a refractor with 100× amplification. |
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| Kitt Peak National Observatory, Tucson, Arizona, 1997/2006 |
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| In December 1997 I visited Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) outside Tucson, Arizona, for the first time, for an evening stargazing session. |
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| Pictures from Kitt Peak, December 1997 | ||
In October 2006, I returned to Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) for a new stargazing session, this time for an all-night session, the Advanced Observing Program (AOP). |
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| Pictures from Kitt Peak, November 2006. | |||
While we didn’t take any photographs during our session, our tour guide Vincent Tramazzo (KPNO, AOP) kindly provided pictures he had taken before, using the same telescopes (see pictures above). Vincent (who is more than recommended as a tour guide) also gave me kind permission to post some of his pictures here. Thanks, Vincent! |
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Andromeda Galaxy (M31, NGC 224) |
North America Nebula (NGC 7000) |
Double Cluster (NGC 869/884) |
Horsehead Nebula (B33) |
| Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, 2006 |
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In October 2006, I visited Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and had a look at the Pluto telescope, with which Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. |
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| Pluto observatory | Two pictures of the Pluto telescope | Liz Willingham “discovers” Pluto | |
| Venus Passage, 2004 |
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On June 8, 2004, the Venus passage was clearly seen from where I live, and here are a few pictures from the event. When it started the weather was overcast, but it became clearer and at the end the sky was perfectly clear. However, the clouds created some interesting and dramatic effects, which can be seen below. The four first pictures are taken without filters, the four last are taken with a solar filter. |
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| Solar Eclipse, 2003 |
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A year earlier, on May 31, 2003, a partial solar eclipse was seen from my balcony. Here are a couple of pics. |
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| Solar Eclipse, 2008 |
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A few years later, on August 1, 2008, another partial solar eclipse could be seen from my balcony. Here are four pictures of it. |
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Space Research |
Another nice way to spend a few hours every now and then is to pay NASA a visit. Other interesting links include the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Astronomy Picture of the Day and the ESA homepage. |
The Moon |
Do you want to own a piece of the moon? (Yeah, right! ;-) |
Science |
I am interested in scientific method and philsophy in general, and am a member of the international constituency The Brights, whose goal is the promotion of a naturalistic worldview. In the same vein, there is also The Skeptics. It should not be very surprising, then, that my favourite regular reading include Scientific American, New Scientist, Discover and Skeptical Inquirer. Finally, lest we forget, of course there are Nature and Science. |
The Mind–Body Problem |
What is “the mind”, and how is it related to the body? What is consciousness? And so on. Mind-boggingly interesting issues! My own position is rather Dennettian. |
The IG Nobel Prizes |
The Ig Nobel Prize, “honors individuals whose achievements cannot or should not be reproduced.” |
The Darwin Awards |
The Darwin Awards, “celebrate Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by commemorating the remains of those who improved our gene pool by removing themselves from it.” |
Aircraft |
| I’ve always been interested in aircraft and have visited a large number of museums over the world. Here, however, I will only list two of my many favourite aircrafts. |
North American XB-70 Valkyrie |
My favourite aircraft is the XB-70 Valkyrie. During the summer of 2002, I saw the sole surviving XB-70 at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Museum, in Dayton, Ohio. |
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Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird |
Another favourite is SR-71 Blackbird. It’s not hard to find SR-71s on display, but my favourite one is the one at the Pima Air and Space Museum, in Tucson, Arizona. The first time I saw it was in August 1999: |
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When I returned in October 2006, it was much more accessible, as can be seen below. |
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Cars |
My favourite car is (and has always been) De Tomaso Mangusta, created by designer genius Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1966. V-8 engine. 310 hp. 4728 cc. Top speed 250 kmh. Giugario also designed Maserati Ghibli, Maserati Bora, Iso Grifo, Lotus Esprit, BMW M1 among others. Photographs by Roger Eklund (my brother). |
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