A few nights ago, whilst I was in Santiago, there was a stunning blue flash here on Paranal (see posts below). One of the engineers caught it on camera - check out his photos at http://www.atacamaphoto.com/Paranal/Paranal34.htm .
I thought I’d write and let you all know (whoever reads this site..) that I am alive and well. Life is very busy here, but it has calmed down this evening, and should be quieter for the next few days. So hopefully I should be blogging a bit more, and will let you know about life on the mountain.
The mountain is Cerro Paranal, and is 8645 feet high. I’m not sure if that is before or after they blew the top off to make a flat platform. I spend 80 nights a year here, along with around 100 other people at present. Although there may be more, as it is hard to tell with everyone working different shifts. There are a few hundred people who work here in total, from cleaning staff to engineers, managers to astronomers. At the moment I am half way through a 10 day day-shift, which means I work in the control room from 9am-8:30pm. The control room is next to the telescopes, and the residencia, where we stay, is 5km further down the mountain.
The view from here is quite incredible. There is nothing to be seen but desert in every direction, except the cloud-covered sea to the west and some faint sand roads in the distance, to a mine and a up to a small observatory. The mountains not rocky, but are like giant sand-dunes, in red, yellow and even hints of blue among the stones. There are a few skeletons of plants, which I’m assured are alive and waiting patiently for the next rain. A few of days ago there was a bird of prey swooping around, presumably looking for astronomers who chose to walk to the telescopes and died of dehydration. Some say it is beautiful, but I would choose awe-inspiring. Strange how a place so dead, with nothing moving but the shadows, can be magnificant rather than full of fear. It reminds me of Psalm 23 - “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”.
Every evening the astronomers here on Paranal gather at the foot of the telescopes to watch the sun set - and maybe see the Green Flash. When the sun sets behind a very flat surface, such as the sea, the final dot of light can flash green for a second or more (see the Science Bit below). But it is very rare here, and many folk have never seen it, even after months of watching, and get rather cynical and unbelieving!
Being from a cloudy country (and rainy, misty, hilly etc) I had also never seen it before coming to Chile. Even now, we have only seen it at the coast, with our friend Mairi. From Paranal we are looking over the clouds, which are not very flat, so it is very rare here. But every night we go out in the cold, get some fresh air (slightly rarified) and hope! The sunsets are beautiful anyway. Tonight they should be stunning as there are some higher clouds to reflect the light. I think I am not made to be an astronomer as I like clouds too much!
(The science bit - in simple terms, the final rays of light are bent by the atmosphere so that the redder light disappears before the bluer light. The bluest light is scattered by the atmosphere, hence the sky being blue, and so we see the green light.)
Today, after the worst shopping trip in history, we had what dear Douglas considers to be an “amusing moment”. Crossing over an underground vent, a strong blast of wind blew my skirt up around my waist, at which point my sweet husband refused to help, or even let go of my hand, and instead laughed his little socks off at my struggle to hold down 360 degrees of skirt with one hand.
We have been debating whether this incident was a) Embarrasing or b) The Funniest Thing To Happen This Week. I appear to be losing the argument, so please, if you agree with me, write and tell Douglas that he is horrid and mean and any other insult you can think of.
The only weapon I have left at my disposal is the “mirror hand”, taught to us by a small child in Shropshire. After a particularly good insult (such as the looser-minger-whatever hand, ask any 6 year old for details), the insulter can hold out a hand and say “mirror bounce back no return”, after which the insulted party must retreat into a dignified sulk. At present this is keeping my dear beloved quiet, but I’m not holding out too much hope…..
All assistance gratefully recieved (Aunty Dorothy!!)
-Rachel
It’s my last day on the mountain! This evening (or early tomorrow morning if the plane is late) I’ll be back with my lovely husband, in a nice clean flat (hint hint). It’s been an interesting 8 days. A lot less tiring now than it was at the beginning, and I’m getting to know some people, although probably next time I come there will be a different set on duty. Each day/night there are about 30 different people around the control room, and they all do different shifts, so it will take quite some time to learn who everyone is.
Strangely, the first people I met at lunch on my first day were from Edinburgh! The project management for the VISTA telescope (the new Visible and Infra-red Survey Telescope, I’m not sure about the ‘A’) is from the Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh, so there are a couple of folk out here now supervising the construction of the dome. The telescope itself is being built in Texas, and will be here in a couple of months.
I have been carrying on learning about the calibration data and the different instruments. In 8 days I haven’t broken anything (yet - only 3 hrs to go). I’ve also managed to get a bit of science done, as it’s been quite quiet this week - various telescopes have been upgraded and tested so there has been less observing. There have been teething problems, but not much that I can do as a trainee. I have a feeling my next shift won’t be quite so straight forward.