[Astronomy] Chile 2012 part 2 - the mountain

Today has been my first day at the top of the mountain, at La Silla observatory. It's as beautiful as I remember it, in its own rather desolate way.

The dome of the ESO 3.6m telescope that I'll be observing with. In front of it is

the shelter for the NTT. (Credit: David Brown)

After another early start this morning (seriously, my body clock doesn't know whether it's coming or going), the flight to La Serena was wonderfully uneventful. So too was the drive from La Serena to La Silla, which was also slightly shorter than I remembered, although I did doze off a couple of times!

I spent the afternoon and evening getting prepared for the start of my observing run tomorrow. I even managed to meet up with the other David from WASP, who I've replaced, for a quick chat about the programs before he was dragged away onto the bus. 

After dinner (which was the usual delicious Chilean fare), I watched the sunset. Now I'm normally not one to stand for hours staring at this event at home, even when it's nice. However from La Silla you get a spectacular view, and can watch the Sun gradually disappear in front of your eyes. Not to mention the spectacular colours that arise.

The dome for TRAPPIST by the light of the setting Sun. (Credit: David Brown)

About an hour after I'd settled into my room for the night I got an unexpected call from the day staff on the 3.6m telescope I was going to be using, saying that the service program for tonight wasn't going ahead, and would I like to have an extra day. Of course I said yes, although it did mean that rather than being able to slowly reacquaint myself with the systems I had to learn very quickly as I tried to put together a program for the night! They've upgraded the software too, which didn't help. Fortunately I found it all coming back to me as I went along, and so far it all seems to be going smoothly.

Sadly though there's a bit of cirrus cloud around, and it seems to be getting thicker, so I don't know how much longer we'll be going for. But it's not been bad as far as a first night goes.

The control room. The station for the 3.6m is just at the front and off to the right.

That's my chair in the foreground. (Credit: David Brown)

07:52 UT update: The clouds have been on and off all night, but there seems to have been enough clear sky for the observations not to be affected too much. The downside of taking the extra night is now becoming apparent however - by the time my night is finished, I'll have been up for 24 hours. I'm really going to need some decent sleep when I get home!