VISTA at the VLT

Off to the VLT for more filming and my planned trip to the VISTA Observatory! I am excited as Valentina arrives to take us up there. It is a short hop from the VLT and I am about to see my favourite instrument.   We arrive at the facility after a 5 minute drive and I am met by Gerhard Hudephl, a technician and engineer, a German engineer who has the awful task of keeping this as well as VLT running... I feel quickly that he is such a great guy, who will hopefully be a friend for life.

VISTA!!

I am taken to the dome where the telescope lives and I see it for the first time. 

WOW!!

It’s a phenomenal piece of engineering: a 4 meter-diameter mirror operating at f1 (translation: FAST!). VISTA is used for wide field surveys in the near infra red range of the electromagnetic spectrum and as an instrument, it is without doubt the most incredible thing I have ever seen. A huge eye on the sky, it is technologically advanced, a masterpiece of engineering. I guess this trip has taught me that the level of engineering on these locations is incredible and without the engineers - nothing happens. 

We film for a while and while I do love facing the camera, all I can concentrate on is my imminent departure from VLT Paranal. I stay a while longer and marvel at the scopes one more time… oh and pose for a picture of course :)

Good bye, VLT...

Bags packed: off we go, we say our goodbyes and Valentina waves us off. As I prepare myself for the long journey north to ALMA and APEX as well as San Pedro de Atacama, I think long about what I have just seen, the huge giant telescopes of the VLT, the incredible VISTA (my favourite) and pinch myself, the people however have left the biggest impression on me. I will be back.

Astrophotography at the VLT

After a night of astrophotography with the VLT as a backdrop I decide it is time for more astro-porn…in the shape of VISTA (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy). 

Before that, however, it is time to do a little bit more with the VLT… what a difficult life! During breakfast I listen to Pink Floyd as I look out at the imposing telescopes on the hill. 

Remembering the night before: it was a splendid night observing. One of the many challenges I faced was polar aligning my telescope and Astrotrac in the southern hemisphere. In the Northern hemisphere we usually set the telescope using Polaris (the Northern Pole Star).

Here in the Southern hemisphere, the usual method is to use Sigma Octantis, the Southern Pole Star: but it isn't very bright and with little experience of the Southern skies, I found no obvious stars to align by. Instead I used what is called a 'drift method', which was hard - very hard. After a couple of hours I managed to get my kit reasonably well polar aligned. 

The galactic centre, with the telescopes of the
VLT in the foreground. How lucky am I...

My first target was Rho Ophuicus, a superb target for astrophotographers, the giant star Antares sits in the middle of this beautiful part of the sky and close by is the distant globular cluster M4. Dark nebulae snaked across the sky. With the tail of Scorpius swaying away across the backdrop of the galactic centre, it was an incredible sight.  I remembered the ancient civilisations who carved the petroglyphs at La Silla observatory, they saw not the light, but the dark. To them the dark nebulae was the Lama, and the star Alpha Centauri was the eye of the lama. Always we look to the sky.

Back to this morning, however! From the Residencia, we enter the VLT control room and I am met by Julien. He is a resident French astronomer at the VLT, and serves 135 nights a year. He is away from his family 135 nights per year, but he is not deterred as he loves his job, a passion that runs through this place for sure. 

We set up a live web cast to home!! The Kielder Observatory and to the UK, it doesn't work brilliantly as we are using wi-fi and the signal goes when I try to go outside with the web-cam, anyway we continue to broadcast and we have followers! It works, even if only briefly, and we show viewers the telescopes and the future E-ELT control room. Here you see Valentina and I chatting to followers about the Control Room. If you joined us, thank you! 

I am once more shown around the control room and am overwhelmed at the sight of the station for the new planned 39m E-ELT (European Extremely Large Telescope)... all ready to control this behemoth of a telescope. Thing is, it’s not built yet and it will take 10 years or more until it is. But... it’s coming and its VERY big, it will dwarf the enormous unit telescopes here at Paranal. I venture outside and can see the road that snakes up the hill to Cerro Armazones, where the telescope will live,. It’s exciting to think that science continues to search for answers and is not afraid to be daring and build bigger and better instruments. To be here is quite an honour.

Twilight at the auxiliary telescopes of the VLT

Night starts to draw in and the sun starts to set, and as usual all the scientists gather outside to see the spectacle, I turn and look in the opposite direction and see the sky turn pink and lavender again, its unrivalled in the natural beauty it reveals. I put away the camera so I can watch the sunset instead of a screen... I see the shadow of the hill in which I and the VLT is standing, but the shadow casts way off into the distance and falls on the hill where the E-ELT will be built: pure poetry.

The VLT: a lifetime dream realised...

Valentina and I at the VLT Residencia

The day started in with glaring sunshine as my first trip up to the VLT summit dawned. I met my host for the trip, Valentina. She is inspirational to me: a local Chilean who is as passionate as I am about astronomy. I sat through the Health and safety briefings with butterflies in my stomach and then the film crew prepared themselves for the trip up to the VLT. I still can hardly believe I am here, I WAS AT THE VLT PARANAL!

I gather what I need: maybe the only time I have ever worn an arctic-grade puffa jacket together with desert-grade sunglassses! We jump into the van, the camera crew at-the-ready: we have no idea what was to come but this is the fulfillment of a lifetime dream for me. As we start the ascent onto the hill, I am reaching fever pitch... The van winds around the bends as we approach the telescopes and with the Residencia left behind, we approach the final bend and I get my first glimpse of UT1. It is HUGE, towering into the sky like a sentient being, grand and fine, dominating its space... alive. We park and enter the control room. I feel like an intruder, my fear and internal process has me bound with fear. It doesn’t last though! I meet Roger, an astronomer from the UK and my fear disappears as he says “Ah, the Kielder Observatory! So that’s you, is it? Welcome!" At that point I feel like part of the team... he has recognised a fellow astronomer and in my own small way the contribution I make is being recognised!

I have always felt like astronomers are a special breed, united in our childlike fascination of all things in the Universe. This feeling was to be confirmed in the following 2 days. Roger says, ”So, you wanna see 'em?” My knees trembled, I know what he means: “Shall we go to the platform?” Oh WOW I am about to see the telescopes for real... ! We walk through the corridor to the door that leads up a small flight of metal stairs, to the platform, the film crew are as nervous I am, then I see them, I see it, I see it all, I pause at the top of the stairs and freeze to the spot...

WOW.
 

A huge platform the size of 4 football fields: to my left the 4 unit telescopes, silver, shining and glimmering in the intense desert sunshine, reaching high into the sky 30 stories high, I am stunned, I don’t know which way to walk, to me I am at the greatest place on earth. I feel incredibly emotional (OK let’s move on...). Valentina just looks at me: she doesn't have to say a word we both know. I turn to my right and see the VLTi, the interferometer array of 4 auxiliary telescopes 1.8m in aperture, on a track system, with clamshell brilliant white domes, the whole place was overwhelming.

Adam, the director from In House Films and now a great friend, says “Right Gary, how do you feel?" a camera in my face... I said “What? WHAT?!” I walk off and take 30 minutes to myself and sat down with my back against a little metal barrier, my back towards the Residencia, maybe 300 m from the telescopes, this was my spot at the VLT, I sit and just look, from my little spot I can see it all, I am here, me Gary Fildes, an ex-brickie from Sunderland, here at the VLT Paranal Chile. My thoughts turn to my family, my beautiful children who I miss, my whole life seemed to be present with me, I think about my ex–wife, mam, dad, the lady I love with all my heart and soul, volunteers at the Observatory... I start to say their names, so that they can be here too. I have to admit I did cry, but so what I am here and it feels incredible. I sit for a little while longer.

Here comes David with his camera...

Valentina asks if I would like to go and see UT3, called MELIPAL, the Southern Cross. I go inside the structure and am dumbstruck at what I see. This telescope is 8.2 m in aperture, it weighs more than a jumbo jet, enormous. The thing that strikes me is the scale and level of engineering that goes into a beast of an instrument like this… then it started to move, nearing the time for observations. The scope starts to whirr and the motors breathe, it is moving toward me… Before the aperture on the structure is opened the scope has to be tilted down to 90 degrees so nothing can fall onto the primary mirror. It stops and is pointing straight at me, looking at me, it feels for a second we are connected, this incredible eye for humanity into the universe  looking at me! Well, I can dream! Then the dome opens its enormous shutters and the scope is ready for observations. I leave, as only the telescope operator can be inside during observations. I turn to look at it as I leave, I know I will one day see it again.

How hard it is to capture the experience of an incredible sunset...

We leave the structure and wander outside, I see Roger and meet many of the staff, gathered outside, I am thinking to myself, what is happening…? Then it hits me, the  sky is pink, lavender, golden, the most incredible mix of colour imaginable... the sky is huge and alive it is breathing, I can only stare at it, we all can, just marvel at the sheer breath-taking beauty of nature, I see God... we are so high up that the horizon is more than 180 degrees, a richly coloured dome, alive.



At this point I can see why people have faith, but THIS is my God, spiritual and physical, elements and light, it is science and the universe, I am alive, goose pimples run up and down my body, the sun is setting. The sky turned from blue to purple to lavender, a thin crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter join our gathering, I LOVE THE UNIVERSE!!!

Waking up at the VLT

OMG I AM AT THE VLT... !

Sunset at the VLT

After a wonderful nights observing under the darkest skies I have ever seen, I wake up disoriented… my room, you see, is 2,400ft above sea level and I am at the VLT! 

I remember watching the sun set behind the four 8m diameter telescopes... magical. 

After sunset, we were granted access to the SCIENCE! The VLT is responsible for more scientific papers than any other... Scientists studiously viewing multiple computer screens, waiting for a signal that will ignite them into action. I talked to Veronica, a Belgian scientist who was studying a star in the giant globular cluster Omega Centauri. The star was pulsating and she was taking data… but what for? 

Playing in our Universe

Well, that’s research, right? By studying the nature of how things work, we become aware and empowered to live well and in harmony. For me, education is about furthering knowledge: Veronica was doing just that, pure research, finding out what is real. Science: a tool for making sense of what we see in the Universe.

The view from my room in the Residencia as I awake...

Anyway, that was last night and now it's morning again! I stumble out of bed and draw the curtains, I laugh out loud. My eyes are still fat and sleepy but I can see out  over 100miles into the Andes mountain range, a BIG blue sky envelopes us all and wraps up the earth beneath, I am amazed at what I can see, it is so beautiful, my vocabulary can't express the feelings I have. I didn’t think the day could get any better than this and I wanted Sarah to be here with me so she could see it too. But that day had only had just begun and it was about to deliver my best experience to date.

Hernan, my, host arrives and I tell him about my problems: although I am lucky enough to escape into this desert playground I know the technological world is still there waiting to hear from me! I need to tell all about what is happening, but I can't because of poor internet connection. We try to establish contact but my laptop will not play ball, I have no idea why, I feel angry and frustrated that I cannot post my blog or send pictures to you all...(nb I'm adding this note a few days later - you are probably reading this a few days late!). I realise this is a compromise that I (and you, sorry!) will have to live with for now anyway.

Onwards: breakfast is served! I arrive into the  retro-futuristic style dining area and am greeted by chefs who give me fruit salad and orange juice: just what I need after days of BBQs and eating on the road. After breakfast, I set my camera on charge ready for the night's observing... and set off with Hernan on a tour of the whole facility... 





More of this to come! One thing affecting us in a way we weren't expecting: the altitude plus a 16-hour filming schedule is EXHAUSTING. We are looking forward to R & R at the eco-hotel Tierra Atacama who are hosting us for a few days :)

Waking up in the Atacama... half way to the VLT!

The day started in awesome style, again. I awake to find that I had parked the astro-wagon in between 2 volcanoes the night previously. Having stopped in thick fog, I had no idea where I had ended up at all. As I awake after a midnight BBQ, the sight is incredible. All around are volcanic remnants of ages long gone, pyroclastic flows once traversed through the park where I slept, what’s left was the environment I awoken to. Steep rocky hill sides left and right with a flat road in between, it was silent and cool, I can imagine T-Rex wandering up here!

The task in hand: get to VLT Paranal "The world's most advanced optical light astronomical observatory" ASAP!!! I am gripped and excited…off we go and as always, drama was not far away. As we creep north away from the last night, we mistakenly think that we have enough fuel, but we are wrong. It looks as if we are going to be stranded in the desert with no way of contacting anyone... stuck on the Pan American highway. I slow the van down to a crawl and hope for the best, we climb and climb and climb and I cannot free wheel at all. As the needle descends below the red line, I know we are in trouble. We are aiming for a town called Taltal which has a filling station, but we can't get another 5 km at best, while Taltal is 22km away. A no brainer... we are knackered. 

Plans are being hatched as to what we do in the event of getting stranded without fuel. Then we see the sign to Taltal, sure enough its 22km away, however we have climbed for 2 hours and MIRACLE!! Taltal is on the coast, it has to be at sea level!! we start to roll and roll and roll and 22km later we roll in to the fuel station, a dead stick dry as a bone, amazed at our good fortune. I know the day is looking up!

First sight...

Off we go with a full tank 1.5 hours from Paranal. Finally we spot it at the top of a hill and we stop to take in the first sight! As we climb through the clouds and see a sign  to ESO, we turn left, drive up the track... excitement builds as we pull around a steep corner!! My eyes are bulging from my head as I see it for the first time, a majestic shining tower of human capabilities. VLT Paranal: I have arrived. 

We are met at the gate, I’m excited I want to go in!!! I tell the guard my name; his English is worse than my Spanish, but the message is clear, Gary who? I start to sink, is this all a mistake... what’s happening? 

The guard hands me a telephone, on the other end is Reception and she can speak English. She confirms my worst fears - I am a day early…argghhhhh!!!! But at least, I think, I can still go in... just a day later than I have arrived. But this is ESO they are incredible, they let us in and find us a room in the scientists home (and James Bond set!) the fantastic Residencia. I am in!

The Residencia is amazing, climatically controlled with a pool and plants everywhere, the humidity is high, it feels so futuristic. We are not allowed onto the summit until tomorrow when our guide Valentina arrives to show us around. So what to do now? A fantastic shower... with an exciting discovery on the bath towels :) Dinner, the food is superb and very welcome...night falls…

We venture outside and the sky is knockout and on the summit of the hill we see the VLT platform and suddenly out shoots a green laser into the sky, the laser guide star was turned on, I was here, me Gary Fildes at the VLT Paranal Chile. 

A surprising connection between modern astronomy and ancient culture in Chile...

La Silla is in the southern part of the Atacama - 600km north of Santiago and (don't we know it) at an altitude of 2400m! It is the home of ESO's original observing site. Today we visit the “grandfather of La Silla” the 3.6m telescope. A behemoth of an instrument standing proudly in its dome, the thing that gets me is the emptiness of the facility, here there are no humans, its completely remotely operated from afar, the real secret of his however is what lies beneath, the High Accuracy Radial velocity PlanetSearcher (HARPS). This telescope looks for other worlds out there in the cosmos…WOW! And it finds them too. I recall the night before, when Mattaeus tells me about his research into looking for new planets. Extrasolar planets were once thought to be very rare but now we believe most stars have planets around them formed from the accretion disc of dust and gas that gives birth to new stars.

HARPS
http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/lasilla/instruments/harps.html

NTT next: the New Technology Telescope. This was the instrument that Veronica, the night previously was using to observe the pulsating star in Omega Centauri. NTT was a forerunner for the VLT: at 3.4 m in aperture it is so beautiful, mounted Alt-Az. The whole observatory turns with the telescope and can access all of the sky, attached to it is SOFI Son Of Issac (you can google that)! 

The NTT

We filmed MORE and took MORE pictures: it was stunning. See for yourself - what a beautiful, scuptural instrumet the NTT is! And then I saw a Condor! I exclaimed, “WHAT is that?!” - this bird was enormous, Hernan tells me it has a 3m wingspan! It just floated, almost suspended in mid-air, effortlessly gliding through the sky.

I thought that this was it - the day done, time to set off on our epic 900 km journey north to the centre of the universe (to me): Paranal Very Large Telescope (VLT). I was wrong, Hernan had been telling me all day about some petroglyphs that had been located here, an ancient reminder of civilisations past. He tells me it will take 1 hour to set off and see this relic of Chile, so I agree and off we go. I ride with him in his jeep across a wild track with rocks and dust strewn all around. The excitement builds: you see, Hernan is a real gentleman and an incredible host for me, talking passionately about what we are about to see, talking about the El Moya, an ancient civilisation that lived in the Andes before their extinction.

The Lama Nebula over La Silla - WOW!
(I didn't take this one sadly, it's one of ESO's images)
Amazing to think the El Moya saw it too...

Hernan took me to a sacred and ancient place, where scattered around the hillsides are petroglyphs. On them the ancient carvings from this now extinct race of people, showing an intimate relationship between them and the sky. Hernan showed me how they interpreted the carvings as representative of how they saw the sky and what it represented. I mentioned in a previous post the nebulous constellation the “Lama” and now Hernan told me about the stories... a sacred animal to the El Moya, they saw the Lama in the sky as an area we now know to be absorption, dust and gas in the milky way. To the El Moya this was a sign that beyond the earth was another realm and in it was the lama. 

To see some of what I saw, watch this INCREDIBLE timelapse by Stephane Guisard (and try not to cry... the YouTube version on the left isn't as high resolution as the link). They inscribed into the rocks the small and the large magellanic clouds, but they were separated from the rest of the carvings, as if they knew the objects were farther away in the sky. I had a sensed of real connection between the modern science and the El Moya, they were the original astronomers in Chile...

From CTIO, across the desert, to La Silla...

I awake this morning to the incredible realisation that I am in the residences at CTIO… my eyes ping open and I start to recall the night before. As I don't have enough words to describe what I saw...

Gazing into the centre of our home galaxy, the Milky Way

 My memories of the night feel like a daze, so much to take in and so much to remember to tell. Also there is the prospect of what lies ahead…

We stroll in for breakfast only to find we have missed it and after a leak in the toilet was quickly dealt with by Tito, we were on our way. I pass in to see the technicians and thank them for their help. 

Next on the list is La Silla on the edge of the Atacama Desert - a very special place. 

Before we can make the 4 hour drive north to La Silla, we have to get online, load up images, update twitter and regain contact with the outside world so we can manage the technical demands of our trip. We arrive at our regular internet café and order food... after filling up, posting tweets, uploading pictures... we are off! Adam sits in the back of the camper van planning the next bit of filming and Glenn plays with cameras as we start the journey north. What a journey it is! Have you ever driven in South America? I hadn’t... I did not expect this. 40ft trucks playing 'chicken' with each other as they tear through the Chilean countryside, desolate and wild, with honking horns and gesticulating terrified gringos: not a place for the faint-hearted.

First sight of La Silla!

As we pass out of the green areas around La Serena, we are greeted by the desert, 'open' is not a word sufficient to describe what we saw... all trace of humanity appeared eradicated, only sand and rocks and bad roads. We take in the silence and vastness, experiencing the the edge of the abyss. 

And in the distance I can see white silver shiny buildings that look familiar... La Silla is beckoning. Off we go on the track with bumps and dust and anticipation. As we climb the hill to La Silla we experience a sunset... a sight to behold and never forget, I never will... the sunset casting hues of pink and blue, I had no idea that even a sunset could be so beautiful. It was breathtaking - at this altitude of 2,400m we feel as if we are in space. 

The New Technology Telescope at La Silla
http://www.eso.org/sci/facilities/lasilla/telescopes/ntt.html

Reaching the summit at La Silla we are greeted by our host Hernando, a lawyer writer who holds tours in between his science writing. Hernando is a true gentleman and self-confessed lover of all things astronomical, and is on a mission to tell me about the history of astronomy in Chile. He tells me about the “Lama” constellation, not made from stars but instead dark nebulae, that the ancient peoples saw in the sky. I ask for more and Hernando duly obliges, a mine of information on ancient and contemporary folklore.

Time for SCIENCE however! I enter the control room to loud music and the smell of research… young scientists are abound in here and they are using some very sophisticated instruments. I'm absorbed as we talk and I distract the team by quizzing them for information as they search the Universe for new data. A superb insight to the working life of astronomers. I am invited back throughout the night, but I prefer standing under the blanket of stars... taking it all in and realising: this is the best sky I have ever seen in my life. So I set up my camera and take astrophotographs until 7:30am! Its late... I'm tired and am now in my room in the hotel, which is covered and adorned in astronomical pictures. 

From my south facing room I open the curtains after turning off the lights and I can see Eta carinae in the inky black sky, a perfect cue for sleep before tomorrow's journey back into the desert... Heading for the VLT Paranal. 

A couple of nights out of contact...Good night and goodbye for a couple of days zzzzzz…

La Serena and the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory!

Our first day begins with an early rise to a fabulous Chilean sunrise, breakfast on the plateau and the phone rings...

The astro-wagon

... its Dr David Murphy from the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago - he is the fixer and creator of all things Kielder Observatory in Chile. I finish feeding my desert fox friend and then it's down to business: David wants us in La Serena at a conference.

What an honour - the conference marks the 50th anniversary of Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). From CTIO a team of cosmologists detected a sign that the universe was accelerating at extreme distances. Wow, they even won the Nobel Prize! And they are going to be there... I'm off as fast as I can, laughing as I watch Glenn Perry from In House Films, our camera man in pyjamas, stumble to the van to guide me to my next destination. It's all hands to the pump as we race off in the warm Chilean sun, in search of scientists with stories.

We arrive in La Serena at a technical college called INACAP. There there are young Chilean people enjoying the sun but we have work to do! In I go and am met by Leonor Opazo, Head of the NOAO-S Education & Outreach Program. She has contributed greatly in helping me organise my itinerary and help me gain access to some of the world's best sites of astronomy research (with the ever present help of Dr David Murphy). I hardly know what to expect and am quite nervous - but out comes Nicole van der Bliek, the Director of CTIO, who is very friendly as she tells me about the history of CTIO, showing me even the old instrumentation she is careful not to throw away as she loves the history of this incredible facility. Rightly so she is protective – what a history!

Nicole then introduces me to some eminent scientists who have been involved in the Chilean astronomy story. Firstly I meet Dr Malcolm Smith, a former director of CTIO and a dyed-in-the-wool astronomer: his passion for astronomy oozes from him! He tells me about plans for light pollution control and that very soon Chile hopes to have 70% of the world's research telescopes. Chile is perfect for astronomy because it's so high up and the humidity is so low (clear nights every night, just like at Kielder...!).

Hardly a pause for breath to reflect on the importance of this - before I meet Dr Alastair Walker, an instrument scientist who helped build the Dark Energy Camera (DECam). DECam, what an important instrument - it contributed to the shared discovery of the accelerating universe! This is AWESOME I can't stop smiling inappropriately (I think they will think I am mad...). Alastair also tells me about new plans and technology designed to detecting more and more objects lurking in our universe.

Then my next interviewee comes along: Dr R. Chris Smith, what a guy, I love him, so energetic and friendly. We talk for 30 minutes about the universe and how his team conducted (along with another US team) the High–z Supernova Search which also contributed to the shared discovery of the accelerating universe and for which they won the Nobel Prize.

What a day, but it's not over... phew no time to breathe, its back to the astro-wagon and off to see the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in the flesh... better still we are staying there overnight! EVEN better still: I'll be in the control room with  Dr Scott Sheppard from the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution! Can this get any better? YES, OF COURSE!

CTIO Domes 

We arrive at the CTIO Observatories just as the sun is going down, what a sight... a blood-red sunset over the Chilean hills and mountains. Adam (Director of Filming) asks us to stop so we roll out and take in the view. It's stunning, all the way up to my north where the 4m Blanco Telescope sits majestically, rightly proud of its discoveries!

I am greeted by Tito the CTIO cab driver, fed, watered and led to our room. It's beautiful! The CTIO staff make us all feel so welcome with a lovely room, a SHOWER AT LAST! and an atmosphere promising a special night of astronomy. I am so excited I eat my meal in 0.5 seconds and race up the hill, but wait! 

Something is wrong, I can't breathe, I feel unfit, why? Hmmm; 7,000 ft altitude maybe, that's it! WOW it hits me hard, so I slow down and take in the sight, take a few pictures then enter the control room.

The control room of the Blanco Telescope is like the deck of the Enterprise, beautiful in its promise of technical and scientific excellence. I meet Scott, a very approachable mid-west American, and he tells me of his research using DECam's very wide field to study near earth objects.

Dr Scott and I at CTIO

DECam's wide field has 3 degrees of the sky covered by the detector (in case you're not sure what 3 degrees means, it means he can scan an area in the sky as wide as 6 full moons, so). He shows me a 'dot' on a screen and tells me that this 'dot' was detected in March 2013 by his team. It's pretty close, Universe-wise – from Earth only you'd have to travel the distance to the Sun 84 times to get there! And it's hardly a 'dot' - maybe as much as 1000km wide!!! Thankfully, although close in universe terms, it's far away enough from Earth.

The Galactic Centre viewed from the Atacama Desert: G Fildes
Taken with Canon 60DA and Astrotrac

We talk astronomy all night and I keep dipping out to check my astrophotography camera and then back in to see how the 4m Blanco Telescope and DECam are fairing. I take this picture of the centre of our own Galaxy. Then it hits me... I'm in the control room which contributed to the discovery of the accelerating universe! Well that's Chilean astronomy - at the forefront of astronomical research.

As I grow sleepy I am left with the feeling that the people who I have met are the very best and today they have invited me into a family of discovery. Tomorrow I'm off to La Silla in the Atacama Desert to see the European Southern Observatory (ESO) the New Technology Telescope (NTT) - join me later to find out how it goes! All in one day, I can hardly believe it!

Adios!