The Man with No Time

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)

My (2nd) grand adventure in Chile has commenced! I'm writing this from the ESO guesthouse in Santiago, after a rather eventful journey that didn't exactly set the kind of tone that I was hoping for for this trip. Still, after 36 hours of travelling I have at least arrived in one piece and with all of my luggage, which is a bonus. Expected, given that I only brought hand luggage, but still a bonus. The ESO guesthouse in Santiago is a place of peace and tranquility. Just what you need after travelling around the world to get there! (Credit: David Brown)

Something that I've not blogged about, but am very much looking forward to, is an upcoming trip for work. On Monday I'm leaving on my third observing run, and my second to La Silla in Chile. I'm going out there to use the HARPS spectrograph on the ESO 3.6m telescope. Last time I was at La Silla to use HARPS I was with my supervisor, but I did a lot of the target selection and list preparation, so I'm not too worried about being on my own this time. La Silla is an interesting place, and I'm hoping to actually get a look at the telescope this time around - it's at one end of the site, and I'm going to be working down in the control room at the other end! The dome of the ESO 3.6m telescope. Hopefully this time I can peek inside. (Credit: David Brown) I've got a pretty hectic travel schedule, and I'm going to be confused as hell about which sleep pattern I'm on, but it should be good. My only regret is that, with teaching having starte...