QUESTION:
Are you going to use the KAO to study the newly discovered planet?

ANSWER from Geroge Gull on October 17:
Unfortunately we will not be able to use the KAO to do any kind of
studies from now on.  The US Congress and the NASA administration has
decided not to fund the KAO for any more research flights because of
a lack of funds.  This is quite unfortunate because the KAO has been
the only telescope in the world where we can observe certain wavelengths.
There is hope for a new airplane called SOFIA which would be a 747
with a 10 foot telescope mounted inside of it.  This still has not been
funded and even if it were funded tomorrow, it would not fly for 5 to
7 years!  This is quite discouraging to infrared astronomers!  For example
if something like the comet impacts on Jupiter were to happen again a
year from now, there would be no airplane to use to observe the event
in the infrared.  We did observe the comet impacts from the KAO and
we discovered water emissions from the impact site.  The airplane is
the only way that you can observe water emissions as you have to get
above the water in our own atmosphere.

The KAO has been a very productive observatory for the last 21 years!
We will now apparently have to wait at least another 5 to 7 years to
do any more studies of a similar kind.

You might like to know that the KAO often went to Honolulu to make
observations.  Hawaii is far enough south that we were able to observe
the center of our own galaxy from the airplane.  We are not able to do
this flying in the plane from the main land!  I have been on several
observing trips with the plane to Hawaii and always enjoyed being able
to get to the beach after a long field trip!

Bye for now...happy observing!

George