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Playing hockey

Vicuna empanadas

Nick at the wheel

Iridescent Andean clouds 

Snow day

Headwaters of the Elqui River

Weeks 5 and 6  in La Serena

In Memory of Jon Paul

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."

These weeks were not all happiness. Jon Paul, 14 years old, lost his brave struggle with cancer.  Though we are far away, our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

The picture above shows the sky from the Cerro Tololo Observatory.  The galaxy we live in is the band on the right, and its companion galaxies are on the left.  The Southern Cross (sideways) is setting between the two buildings.

The science of astronomy tells us that 10 billion years ago none of this was here, and 10 billion years hence it will mostly be gone.  You cannot in the entire expanse build a lasting city, though you be Ozymandias or any other king. 

For those searching for the ultimate truth, scientific verification of the transitory nature of the universe is an important milestone.  It tells you where not to look. So why not start here instead.

Eating Out

Many of the beach-side restaurants in La Serena feature cages for the children, which makes dining a more pleasant experience for all.  This is outside of Georgie's favorite restaurant, La Tabla.

The sign translates "For rent, 50 cents."  Personally I think Jack and Gus are worth much more than that... 50 cents to rent and 50 dollars to return. 

(Relax Mom, its a trampoline that costs 50 cents for 5 minutes)

Road Warriors

Jack and Gus terrorized the town of Vicuna with their motorized car.  Renting out electric vehicles to 4 year olds in the town plaza is amusing to some, dangerous to all, and always profitable.  We should have taken the collision damage waiver.

Nacreous Clouds

When clouds are thin enough to transmit light, and they contain ice crystals that can Bragg scatter the sunlight behind them, they light up with brilliant colors.  This is from our trip last weekend to see snow in the Andes.  This picture from Tim Abbott does not do justice to reality (my pictures showed even less).  Imagine sheets of cloud deep violet in color with crimson and multicolored edges. 

This meteorological oddity went on for more than an hour.  It is an exact analog to the volume holographic gratings used in the Goodman spectrograph.  I promise to explain in more detail in a later entry.

La Serena and Coquimbo

      This is the view from the CTIO Recinto where we live, looking across the bay to Coquimbo, where the Millenium Cross stands (center). 

July Snow

   Our trip to the mountains yielded snow at last, halfway to Argentina.  After about 10 minutes in it, Gus and Georgie retreated to the car seeking warmth.  The rest of us had a snow fight, and climbed around near an abandoned gold mine.

  Below is a panorama of the place we stopped.  Jack, Nick and I had the photographer (Tim Abbott) completely surrounded.   

Photo courtesy Tim Abbott