Chile Astronomical Observatory

I think I need to start saving some money……

Living in England, I’ve never been fortunate to observe a Total Solar Eclipse - surely one of the most spectacular astronomical events we can observe. I do recall staring at cloud filled skies during two total eclipse events in my lifetime in England and even managed to see brief glimpses of the partially eclipsed solar disk. The image below is of the 1999 Eclipse which was Total from my location in the South West of England - however, the clouds scuppered any chance of observing it.

Organised “Eclipse Tours” have proved very popular over the last decade as they tend to get you to the optimum observing sites for specific events - in the middle of a desert or ocean for example! I nearly booked up one such tour to North Africa a couple of years ago to see my first Total Eclipse but was too busy at the time. Not all eclipses are the same of course - the duration of totality can differ greatly between different eclipses and with the observation site. Next year sees one of the longest duration Solar Eclipses this century so would therefore be a fantastic one to observe - totality will be around 6-7 minutes! It’s at “totality”, the period where the Moon totally obscures the Sun, where the Sun’s Corona can be seen (the white wispy stuff in the image above).
Press the “Next” button above to see the mechanics of a Total Solar Eclipse.

There’s a terrific eclipse tour organised by Eclipse Of The Century to observe the event from a ship off the coast of Japan - it includes a few familiar faces from the BBC’s Sky at Night television series (the longest running TV series in the World) so it would be a very rewarding and entertaining few days. Only problem is, the cheapest ticket is £1,395 and that doesn’t include air fares to get there! So, time to start saving some money, raiding the piggy-bank and selling children to reserve a place on a trip that’s bound to sell out quickly. Maybe see you there for the “naked eye” astronomical event of the century!

Paul

Popularity: 4% [?]

I’ve been home for five days now but am only now getting over the “lurgy” - originally picked up from a guy coughing and spluttering all over everyone at the Mt. Teide Observatory.  It put a halt to any plans of test flying Nesty for her annual this week

The flight back to England from Chile was horrendous - these long haul flights, especially multi-stop flights, seem to take their toll although suffering from the lurgy didn’t help.  I was treated to some fine views of The Andes as we flew from Chile to San Paulo in Brazil though.  There’s a new gallery of a few photos I snapped of them as we flew over here.  I also put a short video together as it shows the scale a little better. It goes without saying that BOTH my bags were left in Madrid on my return but at least they arrived to my front door a few days later - I certainly DON’t recommend flying with TAM airline - however cheap they are!! 

 

 The Andes from 36,000ft: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I wrote before that I ran out of time to get my equipment operational.  What I didn’t say was just how close I got.  As you can see from the photo to the left, I managed to get the equipment assembled and all functioning.  However, there’s a big difference between this and having the equipment operational.  Although I had a few hours to test the equipment, it wasn’t nearly sufficient and, in a robotic observatory, the tests need to be thorough.  In the end, I realised that I was in need of an additional 48-72 hrs - some daylight hours to carry out clash tests and fundamental equipment checks followed by nighttime tests before commencing all the calibration and alignment work.  I reluctantly disengaged the worm drives and tied the equipment up in a “restful” position and put the protective covers over it - as you can see to the right.

I’ve been chasing equipment and the domes for the Teide refit project (detailed in my previous post) this week in-between feeling sorry for myself (as men tend to do when they have a cold or cough!).  The dome manufacturer is still having problems with the supply of the main motor assemblies but we’re still in the period of float I scheduled for “unforeseen” problems!

With the shipping time for the Teide clamshell domes at six weeks (from USA west coast to the Canary Islands), I at least know I’ll be home for that period - assuming that nothing goes wrong at Teide.  It’ll be good to get some time flying Nesty and catching up with some work on the house (we’re selling a chunk of our garden for a tidy sum).  However, the most important reason for being home at the moment is to be here while Tabi has her main school exams and to help out with any revision (although I’m really only any use with the sciences!).  It’s of course wonderful to just spend a good period at home with family as I’m a relative stranger in these parts!

It looks like I missed seeing one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Chile for years just as I was leaving.    This stunning photograph taken by Carlos Gutierrez (click on it for full size version) was used by the Daily Mail to illustrate their article - it shows the lightning caused by the huge quantities of volcanic material erupting in to the atmosphere.  I certainly would’ve broken off my work and driven down to see it first hand if I’d been in Chile.

So, without my equipment being operational, I suspect these pages will be a little quiet for a few weeks until I get over to Tenerife to install the new domes and, more excitingly, the new Slooh Half Metre Telescope - I’ll definitely stick an eyepiece in it before fitting the new large format CCD cameras to it - just for testing purposes you understand

All for now, maybe a little more activity on the pages of my Nesty (my aerobatic biplane) blog at www.christen-eagle.com!

Paul

Popularity: 19% [?]

As this trip to Chile draws to an end, I’m sitting at Santiago Airport planning the other observatory related projects I’m currently working on….  Here’s a round-up of what’s planned in chronological order:

Chile Observatory Construction and Hardware Installation:  The Chile Observatory equipment installation was completed in November 2007.  No further hardware work is currently required which affects the operational state of the observatory.

Slooh v3 Software:  To operate multiple Slooh Observatories, it is necessary to totally rewrite the patented Slooh software.  This has been underway for some time and is referred to as “Slooh v3“. The “proof of concept” for the new v3 software was achieved when the Chile AllSky camera went online in March.  However, those of you involved in software programming will understand that the complexities of this task are many and varied.  Mathew, the Slooh software guru also ran a test mission using the main Chile setup this week.

Canary Islands Observatory Dome Replacement:  By far the biggest project this year is the Canary Islands (Teide) Observatory project - it incorporates replacing the existing domes with clamshell domes and the installation of the new Slooh Half Metre Telescope.  The timescales for this project depend solely on the delivery of the replacement domes from the manufacturer in the USA (the promised delivery period has already doubled).  The delivery of the new domes to the Observatory site is likely to be within the next 8-12 weeks although the manufacturer is having problems with the supply of the dome motor assemblies.

The Canary Islands Observatory will be taken out of service to install the new domes.  However, it’s likely that this will not be carried out until the new v3 software is complete so that the Chile Observatory can be brought online to ensure continuity of service.  Weather conditions at the Chile Observatory may not be optimum during this period however.

Canary Islands Observatory - Slooh Half Metre Telescope Installation:  The dome replacement project at the Canary Islands Observatory will incorporate the installation of the new Slooh Half Metre Telescope and associated equipment.  The instrument has been released from manufacture for some weeks now and is currently on its way to the dome manufacturer so it can be loaded in the same container as the new domes.  The new equipment will be installed in “Dome 1″.  A full overhaul of all the observatory infrastructure and Dome 2 equipment will also be carried out at this time.  It is anticipated that this project will last 4-6 weeks although we do not anticipate that the observatory will be out of service for that entire duration.

Canary Islands Observatory v3 Software Integration:  The final part of the Canary Islands Project is the integration of the new v3 software both at the Observatory and the main Slooh data centre in the USA.

Slooh Australia Observatory:  The existing Canary Islands Observatory Dome 1 equipment will be moved to the hosted Slooh Australia Observatory when the Canary Islands Observatory projects are complete.  There is no construction work to be completed at the site.  However, we are not moving the equipment now as this would leave only one operational dome at the Canary Islands site.  The Slooh Australia Observatory is also dependent on the v3 software readiness so there would be no gain in moving the equipment beforehand.  This project will consist of hardware installation and the associated v3 software integration work both at the Observatory and the main Slooh data centre in the USA.  There are other challenges associated with this installation which differ from the other Slooh Observatories.  The installation is likely to take 3-4 weeks.

Canary Islands Observatory Alterations:  At the Canary Islands Observatory, it may be necessary to alter the height of the telescopes in relation to the new clamshell dome walls following a programme of monitoring and testing during the first few months of operation.  If this work is necessary, our aim is to take each dome out of operation separately to ensure continuity of service from the Canary Islands Observatory.  The work is likely to take 7-10 days to complete for each dome.

Chile Observatory Rebuild:  We originally had the rebuild of the Chile Observatory base scheduled for the “observing down season” of July.  However, it’s now likely that this will conflict with the other main projects so, the current status of this project is “in abeyance”. The project will take 6-8 weeks although I anticipate that the Observatory will only be out of service for 7-10 days.

If there are substantive changes to this information, I’ll be posting updates on the Slooh Observatory Forum.

Paul

Popularity: 24% [?]