A Trip North

From my perspective, the trip north to Vicuna was especially sweet. Last summer when I traveled to the same locale I had similar plans to visit the observatories at Cerro Tololo. Tours are only given on Saturdays and therefore on a busy 3 week trip the window of opportunity is small. The day before we were scheduled to come off the mountain (where we were staying at Casa Montana) there was an 8 inch snow fall that made the road into Vicuna impassable. On the second attempt a year later, success. Pictures struggle to do justice to the magnitude of the telescopes and their structures and the beauty of the surrounding landscape. I will try and give a little taste with my photos in addition to what Jennifer and Nicole have already shared. To begin, we had a very clear picture of what we wanted to avoid on our journey up the mountain
A couple shots for perspective on the size of the 4 meter telescope structure. Note the little people
Other telescopes
And lets try a couple videos; to start, the mission control room for the 4 meter telescope



Here is the 4 meter telescope. The larger white section is where the mirror is housed



And for good measure, a Newton disc demonstration which was found at the end of the tour



Tomorrow is a holiday in Chile so the research week has been cut a little short. Our plan is to explore Pablo Neruda's favorite home, Isla Negra. More to come. Ciao