Resumen 4: El Observatorio

Last February 16-19, I observed at the 0.9 meter telescope on Cerro Tololo. It was my only observing experience during my time in Chile. Observing consists of pointing the telescope at different targets, taking exposures (which can range from a few seconds to several minutes each), looking at the resulting images to make sure everything is working properly, and repeating this process all night! You stay up all night, sleep all day, and get well-fed!

The project I observed for was to calibrate the WMAP data for foreground contamination by our own galaxy. Essentially the idea is that the WMAP mission has measured the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation across the entire sky, which is indicative of conditions in the universe very shortly (~100,000 yrs.) after the Big Bang. The data gives astronomers an idea of the large scale conditions of the universe and provides insight into the origins and fate of the universe!

It is very exciting data, but there may be problems with foreground contamination, which is where I come in. In my observing, I took polarization observations of Milky Way halo stars (the stars in our own galaxy that are the farthest away from us). The idea is that if we can obtain measurements of halo stars across the entire sky, then we will have an excellent idea of how the dust in our galaxy varies with sky position and can use that information to adjust the CMB data to better-represent the true CMB spectrum. Although there may be other sources of contamination besides our own galaxy, this is undoubtedly a major contributor, and correcting it is crucial to enable astronomers to confidently draw conclusions from the WMAP data.

I observed for 4 nights, the last three of which I spent observing alone! The nights lasted from about 9 pm to around 6 am, which actually isn't too bad compared to the LONG Winter nights! Enjoy the pictures!


I arrived to Tololo the afternoon of the 16th...tired already, but still looking forward to 4 sleepless nights!




The evenings brought clouds that were beautifully colored by the setting sun. Luckily, these clouds went away by nighttime, making for great observing conditions.


Enjoying the setting sun. Here, I'm standing next to the 0.9 m dome, and preparing to spend all night inside!




The setting sun meant time to get to work!!


Getting the night started with some calibration frames (taking images of stars with known polarization...to later calibrate the rest of the stars). Everything about the telescope is controlled by these computers in the control room, which is situated directly beneath the telescope. The two biggest things I had to continually control were the telescope pointing and the camera (each done on a separate computer).




In all her glory, the 0.9 m scope. We spent 4 great nights together. This is probably one of the smaller telescopes in use in Astronomy today. It has been in operation since the late 60s. But she still works like a charm!


After observing all night, it was spectacular to emerge from the control room to a setting Venus...


...a beautiful moon (here, seen over the 4 m telecope dome)...


...and then to head off to bed until the next afternoon!

Haircut!

I finally gave in and got a haircut:













Also, it snowed in Pittsburgh over the weekend. The view from my balcony:
Only one more final and one week until I'm back home in LA for winter break!!

With all the stress of studying for Finals, it has been difficult to get a restful sleep this week, particularly last night. In all attempts to avoid thinking about Mathematics and Statistics, my brain decided to delve into poetry last night at 4 a.m. It was a good reminder that poetry is not my calling in this life! Hahaha. Enjoy!

Collision course

Ducks, naturally, waddle the right way.
Bears, casually, trodden the left way.
Imminent intersection?
Non-linear paths converge on a curved surface.
Independent measurement triangulation
begets temporally-calibrated coordinates.
Transformations abound, causing headaches.
Linearity (and normal residuals!) painstakingly achieved and praised.
Trend extrapolations reveal undesirable but avoidable truth.
Results relayed to authorities (logic-deficient idiots).
Idiots have power.
Significance misinterpretation causes inaction and headaches.

Result:
Farmer Billy's leaf blower becomes startling (and annoying) machine.
Flying V the left way.
Who's the fool?

Resumen 3: Coyhaique

In mid-January, Fulbright Chile sent us to Coyhaique in the very south of chile (the XI región) in the heart of Patagonia to present our mid-term research reports (in Spanish). Because three of the five Chilean Fulbrighters were researching in the south of Chile, it was easier to send us to the south than to send them up north to Santiago (and an awesome excuse to spend a week in a beautiful place!).


The city of Coyhaique is nestled between stunning mountain peaks in the very south of Chile.


We had sunny, clear weather for almost our entire trip.

In all we spent a week touring the XI region of Chile (and presenting our research). Highlights of the trip were seeing Cerro Castillo, a towering snow-capped string of mountain peaks, Lago General Carrera, the second-largest lake in South America which was carved by glacers, is 1000 feet deep, and has a gorgeous blue-green color, Laguna San Rafael, a lake that is fed by a 300-foot high, receding glacier, and finally an archeological site in which researchers have discovered 10 of the 20 oldest human skeletons in the Americas!!! I could probably go on and on about the amazing experiences we had down there and how cool it was to become good friends with the other U.S. Fulbrighers in Chile. Plus, we had great weather for the entire trip, something very rare in those parts of Chile.

Enjoy the pictures!


This is one of the only places east of the Andes in all of Chile. It's known as the steppe, and is very reminiscent of the high-flat lands of Argentina.


More of the Chilean steppe. Windy, cold, big beautiful skies...


...and 10,000 year-old skeletons! This is one of the oldest skeletons found in all of the Americas. And he's also the 10th one found in this one cave!! For some unknown reason, they were all buried in this tucked position.


A gaucho helped us with directions when we took a wrong turn.


Cerro Castillo (Castle Mountian). Sure did remind me of some sort of castle from some fairy tale...or perhaps some alien-robot creature...


A farm at the base of Cerro Castillo. Amazing how green it was..and the people friendly enough to let a bunch of gringo tourists trespass!


One of many caves on Lake General Carrera. These caves are all over the shores of the lake. The cave walls are smooth and glossy like marble.


La Capilla (The Chapel), a spectacular formation on Lago General Carrera.


And, yeah, we went swimming! According to our guide, this was one of three sunny days the entire year! We took advantage of the good weather...and as long as you kept your entire body close to the surface, the water actually wasn't too frigid!


In Southern Chile, dogs go toe-to-toe with cows!


The glacer at Laguna San Rafael. It's only reachable by a 5-hour boat ride through some of the most sparsely-inhabited land in all of Chile.


The glacier is receding...not necesarily due to global warming, but because we are still coming out of the last ice age (although the rate of warming is probably accelerated by global warming!). Here is the splash of a chunk of ice that fell off the glacier.


They took us on a raft as close as possible to the glacier.




And finally, they treated us to whiskey with 1000-year-old ice! All in all an unforgettible week.