Adventure! Excitement!

A Jedi craves not these things, but I'm not a Jedi, and I wouldn't want to be if that's the deal.

All images are by F. Ringwald, unless otherwise noted.

Here's a picture of my gorgeous sweetheart. Here we are in Tokyo. Here's a picture from the night I met her. She's got WINGS!
My picture
How I fixed the ceiling just outside my office.
A bold idea! This is a proposed new STEM education center by Don Williams (and I helped by doing the photography and programming the webpage).
A Range Lab, to which we take our elementary astronomy students
Yosemite National Park, to which we are shown taking our physics majors. Another view of the glacier-cut granite cliffs is here.
- Here are more views from around California.
A gallery of astronomical images taken in the Sierra Nevada, often with Greg Morgan and the Central Valley Astronomers.
Courtright Reservoir, at an altitude of 8200 feet in the Sierra Nevada, is a favorite observing site, even if it is primitive camping.
The total solar eclipse of 2024 April 8, observed from Swallows Eve Wedding and Event Venue, near Fredericksburg, Texas.
- The total solar eclipse of 2017 August 21, observed from the backyard of Sweet Virginia's Bed & Breakfast hotel, Metolius, Oregon.
- The annular eclipse of the Sun of 2012 May 20, observed at Whiskeytown Lake National Recreation Area, near Redding, CA.
Mount Laguna Observatory, which belongs to San Diego State's Department of Astronomy, who kindly give me telescope time.
- Here is a gallery of images from the 40-inch telescope.
- Here are some pictures of the observatory from 2004 Summer.
White Mountain was in Fritz Zwicky's opinion the best undeveloped astronomical site in the contiguous 48 United States.
- Here are some pictures from our first expedition.
Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona:
- Here are some pictures from our 2003 September observing run.
- Here are pictures from my previous 17 observing runs on Kitt Peak.
Scenic northern Arizona and Utah, including Meteor Crater, the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, Bryce Canyon, and Lowell Observatory
Colorado is a good place to find dinosaur tracks.
Yellowstone National Park has wonderful thermal areas. A close-up of a pool of boiling water shows colorful mats of thermophilic bacteria surrounding it.
Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawai'i. Mauna Kea is visible in the distance from this pahoehoe, and from this a'a, in Volcanoes National Park.
Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, in Chile
Jodrell Bank Observatory, Cheshire, England
Stonehenge and Avebury, Wiltshire, England, although they long pre-date England
Pic du Midi Observatory, in the French Pyrenees
Mount Stromlo Observatory in Australia, in 1995. Sadly, these buildings were destroyed by fire in 2003, but the observatory never stopped being scientifically productive and was rebuilt. Here is the view, looking down from the mountain.
McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis, Texas. On the drive out there is Odessa Meteor Crater, which is mostly filled in.
The Appalachian Mountains near Julian, PA. I risked my life to get this picture, since I took it in a glider at an altitude of over a mile.
The Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico. As a radio telescope, the VLA can observe during daylight and through clouds.
NASA Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, and Canaveral National Seashore, Florida

Last updated 2024 April 24. Web page by Professor Ringwald (ringwald[at]csufresno.edu and replace [at] with @)
Department of Physics, California State University, Fresno. Please read this disclaimer.