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