June 14, 2016, Cerro Tololo
We started the day by visiting AURA Recinto to listen to presentations from staff in different scientific areas that all work for the observatory. It takes all sciences to make an observatory run.
We then loaded up and started our trek to Cerro Pachon and Cerro Tololo. Leaving the city of La Serena we saw many vineyards. As we continued into the foothills, it looked very much like the road to AstroCamp. However, the mountains grew a little bigger down here!
T. Spuck (AUI/NSF)
We went to Cerro Pachon first to visit Gemini South, an 8 meter telescope. This means that the primary mirror in this telescope is 8 meters (over 25 feet). In this picture taken by Tim Spuck, you can see that it takes 5 adults lying head to toe to cover the distance.
Besides being really big, the coolest thing about this telescope is the adaptive optics that it uses.
M. F. Peterson (ACEAP/NSF)
The silver box on the left labeled GeMS is the housing for the gigantic LASERs that help with the adaptive optics.
M. F. Peterson (ACEAP/NSF)
This is the business end of the telescope. These are the instruments. They have to be engineered to be able to handle moving around with the telescope. Not always an easy task. One last cool fact about this telescope is that the mirrors are coated with silver instead of the standard aluminum. This makes it more reflective in infrared. The views are incredible everywhere but especially from the top deck of this telescope.
M. F. Peterson (ACEAP/NSF)
Cerro Tololo, seen from Gemini
M. F. Peterson (ACEAP/NSF)
Gemini and the future site of LSST to the right (where the crane is)
M. F. Peterson (ACEAP/NSF)
Even the Andes Condors like the views from up here!
We ended the evening with some telescope viewing led by our wonderful host, Juan. He brought out an 11” and a 6” Celestron. Even with light cloud coverage, I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing the objects looked. Omega Centauri popped out of the sky as if we had 3-D glasses on. Amazing! The planets were just breathtaking. I always get excited by them, but holy cannoli were they clear!
J. Blackwell (ACEAP/NSF)
Here is an amazing picture taken by a fellow ambassador, John Blackwell.
Written By: Michelle Ferrara Peterson
