during the wee hours of the morning, a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit chile southwest of santiago. there are several major observatories in chile which house some of the largest telescopes on earth. the gemini-south telescope lives at the southern-most observatory, which is about a 7 hour drive north of santiago. a friend has reported that he could feel a rumble at the telescope, but no damage occurred as a result of the earthquake and observations will carry on as normal tonight! i havent heard news from the other observatories, but they all live several hours farther north of the earthquake epicenter.
the earthquake generated a tsunami that is currently propogating across the pacific ocean. it is set to hit hawaii at 11 am local time. i have several friends using telescopes on mauna kea right now, and some in airplanes traveling there, so i'm sending positive thoughts their way! i'll keep you posted on any news as i hear it.
the big picture has an early set of photos from chile.
UPDATE: aside from some power outages and lack of communication soon after the earthquake, no major telescope facilities have suffered damage. the ESO facility in santiago reports no damage. the university in concepcion is another story... news from colleagues is that people they know working in concepcion have relocated to stay with friends in other cities (mainly santiago) until the infrastructure is fixed a bit. read more at SarahAskew.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query chile. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query chile. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 10, 2008
a quick trip to chile!
i had a nice, though exhausting, short trip to chile!
the ocean water was so cold that i didnt swim the entire 8 months i was in chile last year.... but this warm summertime sunday, we played in the waves!
it was good to see again my british sister that i met chile! ;)
i took a bus trip into the grape-vine-lined valley, to the small town of vicuna...
... where i explored the bug museum!
la serena always provides entertaining night life!
the chilean cuisine provided particularly delightful adventures this trip!
the ocean water was so cold that i didnt swim the entire 8 months i was in chile last year.... but this warm summertime sunday, we played in the waves!
it was good to see again my british sister that i met chile! ;)
i took a bus trip into the grape-vine-lined valley, to the small town of vicuna...
... where i explored the bug museum!
la serena always provides entertaining night life!
the chilean cuisine provided particularly delightful adventures this trip!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
viva chile, mierda!
it's so hard to believe that 8 months has passed since i began my adventures on this crazy continent. tomorrow i start my journey from here...
Viva Chile Mierda!!
to here....
America, Fuck Yeah!!
similar flags but oh so different places. thank you to everyone i met along the way. i've learned many things during this journey and i can confidently say i'm a different person than who i was when i arrived. i'll miss everything from the endless avocado and peeled tomato salads to the interesting translations to the random treasures in the andes... and most especially the empanadas!!
goodbye chile... for now. hello again austin!
Viva Chile Mierda!!
to here....
America, Fuck Yeah!!
similar flags but oh so different places. thank you to everyone i met along the way. i've learned many things during this journey and i can confidently say i'm a different person than who i was when i arrived. i'll miss everything from the endless avocado and peeled tomato salads to the interesting translations to the random treasures in the andes... and most especially the empanadas!!
goodbye chile... for now. hello again austin!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
viva chile mierda!
it's so hard to believe that 8 months has passed since i began my adventures on this crazy continent. tomorrow i start my journey from here...
Viva Chile Mierda!!
to here....
America, Fuck Yeah!!
similar flags but oh so different places. thank you to everyone i met along the way. i've learned many things during this journey and i can confidently say i'm a different person than who i was when i arrived. i'll miss everything from the endless avocado and peeled tomato salads to the interesting translations to the random treasures in the andes... and most especially the empanadas!!
goodbye chile... for now. hello again austin!
Viva Chile Mierda!!
to here....
America, Fuck Yeah!!
similar flags but oh so different places. thank you to everyone i met along the way. i've learned many things during this journey and i can confidently say i'm a different person than who i was when i arrived. i'll miss everything from the endless avocado and peeled tomato salads to the interesting translations to the random treasures in the andes... and most especially the empanadas!!
goodbye chile... for now. hello again austin!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
exacerbating inequalities
i admit that i don't remember hearing the name victor jara before arriving in chile. i read lightly about his influence in the chilean "cultural renaissance" in my travel guide book. my interest sparked when i saw that one of his most popular songs is called Te Recuerdo Amanda (see performance here).i bought a compilation album of his as i waited out a long layover in santiago. the woman who completed the transaction was very excited to see that i was buying it, so i also became very excited to hear it.
his songs are relaxing and mellow, yet moving and intense, even though i don't understand most of the words. he reminds me of a chilean combination of leonard cohen and bob dylan. simple acoustic guitar behind deep folk melodies that sing of the political struggles of working people. this past saturday night i was charmingly serenaded with this song that bears my name... a beautiful rendition that nearly brought me to tears.
Te recuerdo Amanda, la calle mojada
corriendo a la fabrica, donde trabajaba Manuel
La sonrisa ancha, la lluvia en el pelo
no importaba nada, ibas a encontrarte con el
con el, con el, con el...
I think of you Amanda, in the wet street
running toward the factory, where Manuel worked
with a broad smile, the rain in your hair
nothing mattered, you were meeting up with him
with him, with him, with him...
Te Recuerdo Amanda tells a tragic story of two factory workers who meet outside during their breaks. innocent manuel joins the workers struggle and is killed, one of the many who never return to work after the break-ending sirens sound. it's a beautiful song and represents a good example of the political activism victor jara expressed through anecdotal tales of workers.
Jara's music helped found chile's nueva cancion (new song) movement which accompanied a revolution among the working class. they fought against the repression by the ruling upper class and eventually won with the victory of new president, salvador allende, in 1970. Jara, along with singer violeta parra, continued to push for more rights for the people... placing himself as a target of the chilean right wing. On September 11, 1973, the chilean military staged a coup d'etat that resulted in the murder of allende, the appointment of (CIA-backed) augusto pinochet as dictator, and the arrest of victor jara. for four days, victor jara was held in the chilean stadium, beaten and tortured in front of other prisoners... and finally murdered, at the age of 38. he wrote a final poem, with broken fingers and wrists, smuggled out of the stadium in a fellow prisoner's shoe... "silence and screams are the end of my song."
he never stopped representing hope for the people, even though he suspected his death would result from the coup that september day in 1973.
it makes me think of my home and wonder who harbors such passion today in the struggle against the american neo-conservative right wing. why has it taken 6 years for the majority of the US public to really dislike the bush administration? how has pop-culture become so ridiculously indifferent to the growing social divide? when will we all recognize that the need to take responsibility for our actions by treating other people sympathetically should come before our overwhelmingly selfish pursuit of happiness through consumerism and consumption?
According to a UN study,
Today’s consumption is undermining the environmental resource base. It is exacerbating inequalities. And the dynamics of the consumption-poverty-inequality-environment nexus are accelerating. If the trends continue without change — not redistributing from high-income to low-income consumers, not shifting from polluting to cleaner goods and production technologies, not promoting goods that empower poor producers, not shifting priority from consumption for conspicuous display to meeting basic needs — today’s problems of consumption and human development will worsen.
… The real issue is not consumption itself but its patterns and effects.
… Inequalities in consumption are stark. Globally, the 20% of the world’s people in the highest-income countries account for 86% of total private consumption expenditures — the poorest 20% a minuscule 1.3%.
so much that we easily take for granted.... i'm happy i've discovered victor jara.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
back from the dry
the atacama desert in northern chile is the second driest in the world... we actually pointed out to each other when we saw plants because they seemed so unusual in the stark landscape. pop quiz... what's the driest desert in the world??
i've returned from the northern desert to realize that i have only TWO weeks left in la serena, chile!! holy crap how time flies as little moments simultaneously linger in my mind! so much to say, so much to do, so much to see, so much to feel...
i've returned from the northern desert to realize that i have only TWO weeks left in la serena, chile!! holy crap how time flies as little moments simultaneously linger in my mind! so much to say, so much to do, so much to see, so much to feel...
Thursday, March 22, 2007
milchstrasse
i admit, i like this observing gig! tonight is the last night of my 5-night official training run on the gemini-south telescope. i'm in charge tonight which is a bit daunting... so many things to remember on this complicated beast. luckily, it's partially cloudy. in general, moderately bad weather is the WORST type for observing because you constantly have to check for clouds and re-acquire guide stars and pause observations that are crappy, etc.... but for tonight it relieves the pressure a bit because i dont have to be as efficient as i would normally want. you have to be efficient when people tell you things like "this telescope costs $X to operate per second, so make every second count!" yikes!
overall, this observing run has been quite nice. despite the complication and stress of taking other people's data and trying to not break anything, it's really fun to run gigantic telescopes. since we're doing several different projects throughout the night, we look at things in our galactic neighborhood right before focusing on a galaxy as it was when the universe was only a couple billion years old!
and the night sky.... nothing soothes my soul like mountain vistas and hundreds of visible stars in the sky. the southern night sky has certainly lived up to all my expectations. the new moon denied us any of the sun's nighttime reflection just a few nights ago and it remains too dark outside to see my hand in front of my face. at first i can only see constellations that have quickly become familiar: the southern cross, upside-down orion, and of course the bright "evening star" venus... i cant recognize too many more southern constellations yet without the aid of a sky chart.
after a few minutes my eyes adjust to the darkness and more and more stars pop out of the blackness. i begin to see the elongated fuzzy patches that cross over the whole sky in a long straight line. i cant quite focus on all the elusive white speckles when i look directly at them, but what i see just off the center of my vision reinforces why our ancestors named it the great milky way. in german, they call it "milchstrasse" which translates to "milk street". what is the name of the milky way in spanish? "calle de leche"? anyone?
i love just going outside throughout the night and letting my eyes become acquainted with the immensity of space over and over again.
another fun aspect of the observing in chile is the food at the lodge! there are chilean chefs who cook meals for us each day. i work for about 14 hours a night this time of year and try to sleep for 7-8... so it's nice that they cook food i can eat! the food this week has been very good, but almost everyday there has been some food item offered that i couldnt identify. this isnt necessarily a bad thing, in fact it's kind of exciting! i've tried everything i've encountered so far (even the intestine that showed up on a grilled plate in La Serena last week. i had one tiny bite and i'll suffice it to say that i did not have another). one meat looked like a cornish game hen that had all the bones sucked out of it so it looked deflated then fried. it turned out to be chicken. there was one thing that i didnt ask about because the consistency was quite like tongue, and i thought it would be better not to know. there's always chilean salad which consists of tomatoes and onions in a bit of oil. i've also had some great desserts that contain lots of various fruits and syrups!
sometimes while observing i have a hard time sleeping a full 7 or 8 hours... due to the altitude, maybe? this run i've had no trouble at all sleeping, which must be due to some combination of the elevated stress level of such complicated observing all night long... and the fact that i've been eating soooooo much yummy food!!
UPDATE: this image, captured by miloslav druckmuller in argentina with the patagonias in the foreground, represents almost exactly what i saw when i first arrived in chile in january.
you can see the wonderful comet mcnaught in addition to the long stretch of the milky way. above the comet and a bit to the right you can see a little fuzzy smudge, and then another slightly larger smudge further up to the right. these are little irregular galaxies called the small and large magellanic clouds... only visible from the southern hemisphere!
the large magellanic cloud harbored the closest supernova in 400 years... supernova 1987a! all of us dorks celebrated the 20th anniversary of this spectacular stellar explosion on february 23rd. i tried to take more observations of the supernova last week, but the clouds prevented my success :(
overall, this observing run has been quite nice. despite the complication and stress of taking other people's data and trying to not break anything, it's really fun to run gigantic telescopes. since we're doing several different projects throughout the night, we look at things in our galactic neighborhood right before focusing on a galaxy as it was when the universe was only a couple billion years old!
and the night sky.... nothing soothes my soul like mountain vistas and hundreds of visible stars in the sky. the southern night sky has certainly lived up to all my expectations. the new moon denied us any of the sun's nighttime reflection just a few nights ago and it remains too dark outside to see my hand in front of my face. at first i can only see constellations that have quickly become familiar: the southern cross, upside-down orion, and of course the bright "evening star" venus... i cant recognize too many more southern constellations yet without the aid of a sky chart.
after a few minutes my eyes adjust to the darkness and more and more stars pop out of the blackness. i begin to see the elongated fuzzy patches that cross over the whole sky in a long straight line. i cant quite focus on all the elusive white speckles when i look directly at them, but what i see just off the center of my vision reinforces why our ancestors named it the great milky way. in german, they call it "milchstrasse" which translates to "milk street". what is the name of the milky way in spanish? "calle de leche"? anyone?
i love just going outside throughout the night and letting my eyes become acquainted with the immensity of space over and over again.
another fun aspect of the observing in chile is the food at the lodge! there are chilean chefs who cook meals for us each day. i work for about 14 hours a night this time of year and try to sleep for 7-8... so it's nice that they cook food i can eat! the food this week has been very good, but almost everyday there has been some food item offered that i couldnt identify. this isnt necessarily a bad thing, in fact it's kind of exciting! i've tried everything i've encountered so far (even the intestine that showed up on a grilled plate in La Serena last week. i had one tiny bite and i'll suffice it to say that i did not have another). one meat looked like a cornish game hen that had all the bones sucked out of it so it looked deflated then fried. it turned out to be chicken. there was one thing that i didnt ask about because the consistency was quite like tongue, and i thought it would be better not to know. there's always chilean salad which consists of tomatoes and onions in a bit of oil. i've also had some great desserts that contain lots of various fruits and syrups!
sometimes while observing i have a hard time sleeping a full 7 or 8 hours... due to the altitude, maybe? this run i've had no trouble at all sleeping, which must be due to some combination of the elevated stress level of such complicated observing all night long... and the fact that i've been eating soooooo much yummy food!!
UPDATE: this image, captured by miloslav druckmuller in argentina with the patagonias in the foreground, represents almost exactly what i saw when i first arrived in chile in january.
you can see the wonderful comet mcnaught in addition to the long stretch of the milky way. above the comet and a bit to the right you can see a little fuzzy smudge, and then another slightly larger smudge further up to the right. these are little irregular galaxies called the small and large magellanic clouds... only visible from the southern hemisphere!
the large magellanic cloud harbored the closest supernova in 400 years... supernova 1987a! all of us dorks celebrated the 20th anniversary of this spectacular stellar explosion on february 23rd. i tried to take more observations of the supernova last week, but the clouds prevented my success :(
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
international superbowl?
i'll admit that i've never been a big fan of american football, and i still have problems calling the game "football," but i've definitely softened up over the last couple years. i mean, how can i not like a good superbowl party?
this year i watched the game with ex-pat astronomers and their families in chile. the feed from the US was a bit shotty so there were several excitable moments... like after the first run where the bears scored a touchdown, a couple fumbles happened, and then the colts had the ball and... zztt.. frozen tv... we all joked a little.. and then BAM... the picture is moving with harrison is running across the goal line! what!?!? haha!
due to the midwest dominated game, i felt inclined to bring a chilean version of my favorite cincinnati chili dip. mmmm... love that stuff! we had the popular indy broasted pork sandwiches, and one woman even brought a genuine bears crockpot!
unfortunately, we couldnt see the infamously expensive commercials, but we did get to see the same chilean sports commercials over and over and over, including one advertisement for american NFL teams playing games this summer in china. huh?
anyway, this season i missed enjoying some yummy etouffe and gumbo with the most entertaining football fans i've met... cajuns cheering on the saints! but i happily got to watch one good game in austin and one good saints game in chile. i'm looking forward to seeing the saints kick more butt next year! go saints!
this year i watched the game with ex-pat astronomers and their families in chile. the feed from the US was a bit shotty so there were several excitable moments... like after the first run where the bears scored a touchdown, a couple fumbles happened, and then the colts had the ball and... zztt.. frozen tv... we all joked a little.. and then BAM... the picture is moving with harrison is running across the goal line! what!?!? haha!
due to the midwest dominated game, i felt inclined to bring a chilean version of my favorite cincinnati chili dip. mmmm... love that stuff! we had the popular indy broasted pork sandwiches, and one woman even brought a genuine bears crockpot!
unfortunately, we couldnt see the infamously expensive commercials, but we did get to see the same chilean sports commercials over and over and over, including one advertisement for american NFL teams playing games this summer in china. huh?
anyway, this season i missed enjoying some yummy etouffe and gumbo with the most entertaining football fans i've met... cajuns cheering on the saints! but i happily got to watch one good game in austin and one good saints game in chile. i'm looking forward to seeing the saints kick more butt next year! go saints!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
25 things
here's a narcissistic indulgence spiraling its way around facebook. thought i'd participate and share it here too.
1. i have 55 (plus or minus 2) *first* cousins. all of them currently live within a few hour drive of cincinnati, ohio, USA.
2. at the start of each year in elementary school, i looked around the class to see who i would have a crush on. who knew i'd be facebook friends with some of my crushes 20 years later?!
3. i first left my country at the age of 15 to visit my aunt in south korea. the experience changed me completely... the world beyond suburban america became an attainable reality. thank you, amy! i hope i can share such an awakening adventure with my niece and nephew when they are old enough.
4. i went thru a strong christian phase when i was a teenager. the judgmental attitudes of some of my christian friends instigated my questioning of religion.
5. during my first year in college, i fell in love, smoked cigarettes, discovered the grateful dead, got a tattoo, tried some drugs, learned how to knit, and changed my major to physics - not necessarily in that order.
6. i was in a rock band called perelandra for a couple years in college. i often asked myself "should i be a rock star or a physicist?" then the band decided for me by breaking up one summer while i was in chicagoland working at fermilab, being an astrophysicist.
7. i once met jeff tweedy (of the band wilco) and told him that his austin city limits festival set was really great, but not quite as rockin' as the pixies.
8. i started school at the age of 4 and finally finished, after taking no breaks, at 28. i began to question my sanity near the end; they gave me a Ph.D.
9. i've spent about 90 nights awake on mountain tops around the world playing with big huge telescopes and admiring the sky!
10. one of my proudest moments was when the chilenos i played with soccer with in chile started calling me "ronaldinha!"
11. i've kept personal journals since i was 8 years old. maybe thats why i took to blogging so naturally.
12. i enjoy writing a blog. i started about ten years ago in order to learn html and update my family while i traveled (see #6). then i decided to use the venue as a way to practice writing about science to a popular audience. i'm constantly entertained by the personal online community astropixie has developed. i'm constantly intrigued, and sometimes creeped out, by the communication existing between people from all over the world, and by the feedback i receive.
13. i finish reading a novel every month or two and give my books to people i think might enjoy them. book recommendations always welcome.
14. i think video conferences are both wonderful and horrible. creating and maintaining worldwide astronomical collaborations is now easier, and i love seeing my family while i live so far away! but the moment i end a conversation with my niece and nephew is the moment i miss them the absolute most, because i cant give them hugs.
15. i'm a big fan of the original star wars movies, bananas, art parties, orgasms, honesty, singing around campfires, family dinners, explorative discussions, skinny dipping, seeing the milky way in the sky, reading to kids, and baking bread. (yes, i'm counting this as one item in the whole list!)
16. i feel like i really experience a culture when i stay long enough to watch how the people change with the seasons. i'm thrilled to have experienced this in ohio, austin, germany, chile, and england... so far.
17. my great-grandmother's name was ida dora doll.
18. i like learning other languages. how else can you haggle when you travel? also, there are beautiful phrases in each language that do not translate properly, yet reveal interesting cultural details about the people that speak the language.
19. the sight of blood makes me queazy, and probably explains why i dont like horror films.
22. i'm a cat lover without a cat to love.... i travel too much to have a pet right now :( when i was very young, i had a kitten named sock. sock died and i was sad, so i named my next kitten two socks.
21. few things please me more than being so absorbed in playing the piano that i lose awareness of everything else.
22. i think we are all ultimately trying to figure out how to deal with our undeniably finite existences. to me, the idea of a god provides no confidence, although i recognize that the possibility consoles many. i derive comfort from contemplating how the universe works, appreciating my unexplainable human consciousness, and knowing that my being will eventually be recycled back into the cycle of star dust that i so much admire.
23. i'm happy for my health, and make an effort to maintain it.
24. i'm looking forward to turning 30. only 4 months left! i wonder what shade of gray my hair will eventually turn.
25. i'm proud of what i've accomplished in my life and have absolutely no idea where i'll be, or what i'll be doing in a few years. for now i am happy anticipating the unknown adventures, but maybe i won't always feel comfortable with such uncertainty.
ps. i'm thru with through.
1. i have 55 (plus or minus 2) *first* cousins. all of them currently live within a few hour drive of cincinnati, ohio, USA.
2. at the start of each year in elementary school, i looked around the class to see who i would have a crush on. who knew i'd be facebook friends with some of my crushes 20 years later?!
3. i first left my country at the age of 15 to visit my aunt in south korea. the experience changed me completely... the world beyond suburban america became an attainable reality. thank you, amy! i hope i can share such an awakening adventure with my niece and nephew when they are old enough.
4. i went thru a strong christian phase when i was a teenager. the judgmental attitudes of some of my christian friends instigated my questioning of religion.
5. during my first year in college, i fell in love, smoked cigarettes, discovered the grateful dead, got a tattoo, tried some drugs, learned how to knit, and changed my major to physics - not necessarily in that order.
6. i was in a rock band called perelandra for a couple years in college. i often asked myself "should i be a rock star or a physicist?" then the band decided for me by breaking up one summer while i was in chicagoland working at fermilab, being an astrophysicist.
7. i once met jeff tweedy (of the band wilco) and told him that his austin city limits festival set was really great, but not quite as rockin' as the pixies.
8. i started school at the age of 4 and finally finished, after taking no breaks, at 28. i began to question my sanity near the end; they gave me a Ph.D.
9. i've spent about 90 nights awake on mountain tops around the world playing with big huge telescopes and admiring the sky!
10. one of my proudest moments was when the chilenos i played with soccer with in chile started calling me "ronaldinha!"
11. i've kept personal journals since i was 8 years old. maybe thats why i took to blogging so naturally.
12. i enjoy writing a blog. i started about ten years ago in order to learn html and update my family while i traveled (see #6). then i decided to use the venue as a way to practice writing about science to a popular audience. i'm constantly entertained by the personal online community astropixie has developed. i'm constantly intrigued, and sometimes creeped out, by the communication existing between people from all over the world, and by the feedback i receive.
13. i finish reading a novel every month or two and give my books to people i think might enjoy them. book recommendations always welcome.
14. i think video conferences are both wonderful and horrible. creating and maintaining worldwide astronomical collaborations is now easier, and i love seeing my family while i live so far away! but the moment i end a conversation with my niece and nephew is the moment i miss them the absolute most, because i cant give them hugs.
15. i'm a big fan of the original star wars movies, bananas, art parties, orgasms, honesty, singing around campfires, family dinners, explorative discussions, skinny dipping, seeing the milky way in the sky, reading to kids, and baking bread. (yes, i'm counting this as one item in the whole list!)
16. i feel like i really experience a culture when i stay long enough to watch how the people change with the seasons. i'm thrilled to have experienced this in ohio, austin, germany, chile, and england... so far.
17. my great-grandmother's name was ida dora doll.
18. i like learning other languages. how else can you haggle when you travel? also, there are beautiful phrases in each language that do not translate properly, yet reveal interesting cultural details about the people that speak the language.
19. the sight of blood makes me queazy, and probably explains why i dont like horror films.
22. i'm a cat lover without a cat to love.... i travel too much to have a pet right now :( when i was very young, i had a kitten named sock. sock died and i was sad, so i named my next kitten two socks.
21. few things please me more than being so absorbed in playing the piano that i lose awareness of everything else.
22. i think we are all ultimately trying to figure out how to deal with our undeniably finite existences. to me, the idea of a god provides no confidence, although i recognize that the possibility consoles many. i derive comfort from contemplating how the universe works, appreciating my unexplainable human consciousness, and knowing that my being will eventually be recycled back into the cycle of star dust that i so much admire.
23. i'm happy for my health, and make an effort to maintain it.
24. i'm looking forward to turning 30. only 4 months left! i wonder what shade of gray my hair will eventually turn.
25. i'm proud of what i've accomplished in my life and have absolutely no idea where i'll be, or what i'll be doing in a few years. for now i am happy anticipating the unknown adventures, but maybe i won't always feel comfortable with such uncertainty.
ps. i'm thru with through.
Friday, May 23, 2008
keep amanda weird
there exists a fantastic tradition among the astronomy graduate students at UT: when a person earns a PhD, the rest of the students honor that person by creating a special t-shirt which includes photos, memories from grad school, inside jokes and his or her dissertation research. the t-shirt is informally presented and explained at the official PhD party.
i don't know for certain how long ago this tradition started (any deas?), but the original t-shirts had a single plot from the dissertation and that was all! the rise of photoshop and gimp have initiated the development of quite intricate shirts over the years.
i admit i was super excited to join the PhD club *and* receive my official shirt at my party last weekend. it's a rite of passage, really, and i'm so pleased with the result!!! the front of the shirt generally shares random events from the grad school years, usually presented thru some sort of a theme. since the students found so many pictures of me from this blog and other sources, they chose to show pictures of me eating and drinking in all the places i've traveled to and spent time during grad school with the theme: on the road again!
the top left is me trying hard to keep my beer out of the water during one of our many boat parties on a lake just outside of austin. below that is "flat amanda" followed by my advisor pouring me a margarita while we were in mexico celebrating the wedding of former UT astronomers. on down the line.... drinking in brasil and eating homemade empanadas in chile. the right side features me eating a huge plate of meat in a viking-themed restaurant in sanitago, chile, and drinking a larger-than-my-head-sized mug of beer at the oktoberfestival while wearing my bona fide dirnd'l!
they also thought to include my evolving modes of transportation. although i've never owned a volkswagen, i've always been affiliated with people who have, and joined the austin aircoolers vw gang pretty much immediately after i moved to austin. i owned a car for a couple years, but upgraded to a scooter and a bicycle at some point. several months ago, i sold the scooter so now i'm down to my bike and the city bus system... and i love it (although its definitely summer now in texas so i'm little sweaty whenever i arrive somewhere by bike!)!
the back of the shirt is themed after the astropixie blog! the subtitle comes from cleverly changing a very popular phrase around here: keep austin weird, to "keep amanda weird"!! haha!
if you've been to austin, maybe you've noticed that it's a little weird in general, but the basis of the "keep austin weird" project is to support local stores and style so people can sustain their independent businesses, and the city can retain its unique subtlety without be run over by big money superstores that are frankly.. no fun at all!
the shirt superbly ties in so many memories from grad school, and even includes a tiny little plot from my research on the right.... just under the "science: it works, bitches" banner! as a play on the cartoon that i have at the bottom of the blog, they included several pictures of me "in disguise." they joked that they found way more pictures of me in costumes than they had room to include on the t-shirt... so i guess it's fair to say that i enjoy dressing up ;)
thank you so much amy, marty, andrea and everyone else!!
yippeee :)
i don't know for certain how long ago this tradition started (any deas?), but the original t-shirts had a single plot from the dissertation and that was all! the rise of photoshop and gimp have initiated the development of quite intricate shirts over the years.
i admit i was super excited to join the PhD club *and* receive my official shirt at my party last weekend. it's a rite of passage, really, and i'm so pleased with the result!!! the front of the shirt generally shares random events from the grad school years, usually presented thru some sort of a theme. since the students found so many pictures of me from this blog and other sources, they chose to show pictures of me eating and drinking in all the places i've traveled to and spent time during grad school with the theme: on the road again!
the top left is me trying hard to keep my beer out of the water during one of our many boat parties on a lake just outside of austin. below that is "flat amanda" followed by my advisor pouring me a margarita while we were in mexico celebrating the wedding of former UT astronomers. on down the line.... drinking in brasil and eating homemade empanadas in chile. the right side features me eating a huge plate of meat in a viking-themed restaurant in sanitago, chile, and drinking a larger-than-my-head-sized mug of beer at the oktoberfestival while wearing my bona fide dirnd'l!
they also thought to include my evolving modes of transportation. although i've never owned a volkswagen, i've always been affiliated with people who have, and joined the austin aircoolers vw gang pretty much immediately after i moved to austin. i owned a car for a couple years, but upgraded to a scooter and a bicycle at some point. several months ago, i sold the scooter so now i'm down to my bike and the city bus system... and i love it (although its definitely summer now in texas so i'm little sweaty whenever i arrive somewhere by bike!)!
the back of the shirt is themed after the astropixie blog! the subtitle comes from cleverly changing a very popular phrase around here: keep austin weird, to "keep amanda weird"!! haha!
if you've been to austin, maybe you've noticed that it's a little weird in general, but the basis of the "keep austin weird" project is to support local stores and style so people can sustain their independent businesses, and the city can retain its unique subtlety without be run over by big money superstores that are frankly.. no fun at all!
the shirt superbly ties in so many memories from grad school, and even includes a tiny little plot from my research on the right.... just under the "science: it works, bitches" banner! as a play on the cartoon that i have at the bottom of the blog, they included several pictures of me "in disguise." they joked that they found way more pictures of me in costumes than they had room to include on the t-shirt... so i guess it's fair to say that i enjoy dressing up ;)
thank you so much amy, marty, andrea and everyone else!!
yippeee :)
Monday, January 29, 2007
new constellations
a month out of germany, a week in chile, and i still find it necessary to remind myself of the proper affirmation... "ja ja, er, i mean, si si!" haha! i wonder how long it will take me to switch into spanish mode?
along with a new culture and language surrounding me, my day to day astronomical mindset has drastically changed as well. in munich, i worked at the max-planck institute for extraterrestrial physics to produce a paper on my dissertation research. i was surrounded by three different world-class astronomy institutes and felt (embarrassingly) giddy walking into a colloquium hall and seeing astronomers who have seemed "famous" to me during my graduate school days of reading sooooo many of their papers! at the same time, i felt respected, challenged and intrigued to comprehend and discuss the leading issues is modern astronomy! research, publish, research... what an exciting adventure it was....
now i've switched gears a bit, working for the gemini-south observatory, living in la serena, chile. i arrived last sunday and have spent the week aquainting myself with new people, my new home and my new job. i'm a member of the gemini science team that is commissioning the new FLAMINGOS-2 instrument... once it arrives after being built in florida.
there are meetings here everyday to discuss and organize the operations of the gigantic 8.1-meter (diameter of the main mirror) gemini telescope. it's confusing to jump into a group that uses acronyms for nearly half of their words!! the majority of my observing has been on the old, highly rigged and relatively simple 2.7-m telescope at the mcdonald observatory in west texas, so it's quite amazing and informative to learn about all the intricate mechanisms that have been put in place on gemini to correct for things like the atmospheric blurring of light, for example!!
on saturday a few of us drove 2 hours east to observe with gemini for 4 nights (pictures)! my new boss, marcel, is the official astronomer for these nights and i'm just here to learn as much as possible... which hasnt been a problem so far! the full workings of this telescope combine to produce one of the most complicated systems i've ever seen! no wonder so many people meet everyday to discuss every issue behind its operations. there are so many complicated individual procedures that work without the observers even having to think about them (until they dont work, of course)...
in addition to the observations, i got to see comet mcnaught last night (see previous post) and i've been able to explore the whole southern sky! it's like a whole new universe but with the same familiar milky way disk rising and setting.... orion stands on his head... alpha centauri, our nearest stellar neighbor, shines brightly and points to the southern cross which reminds me of the harmonic crosby, stills, nash and young lyrics...
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day
along with a new culture and language surrounding me, my day to day astronomical mindset has drastically changed as well. in munich, i worked at the max-planck institute for extraterrestrial physics to produce a paper on my dissertation research. i was surrounded by three different world-class astronomy institutes and felt (embarrassingly) giddy walking into a colloquium hall and seeing astronomers who have seemed "famous" to me during my graduate school days of reading sooooo many of their papers! at the same time, i felt respected, challenged and intrigued to comprehend and discuss the leading issues is modern astronomy! research, publish, research... what an exciting adventure it was....
now i've switched gears a bit, working for the gemini-south observatory, living in la serena, chile. i arrived last sunday and have spent the week aquainting myself with new people, my new home and my new job. i'm a member of the gemini science team that is commissioning the new FLAMINGOS-2 instrument... once it arrives after being built in florida.
there are meetings here everyday to discuss and organize the operations of the gigantic 8.1-meter (diameter of the main mirror) gemini telescope. it's confusing to jump into a group that uses acronyms for nearly half of their words!! the majority of my observing has been on the old, highly rigged and relatively simple 2.7-m telescope at the mcdonald observatory in west texas, so it's quite amazing and informative to learn about all the intricate mechanisms that have been put in place on gemini to correct for things like the atmospheric blurring of light, for example!!
on saturday a few of us drove 2 hours east to observe with gemini for 4 nights (pictures)! my new boss, marcel, is the official astronomer for these nights and i'm just here to learn as much as possible... which hasnt been a problem so far! the full workings of this telescope combine to produce one of the most complicated systems i've ever seen! no wonder so many people meet everyday to discuss every issue behind its operations. there are so many complicated individual procedures that work without the observers even having to think about them (until they dont work, of course)...
in addition to the observations, i got to see comet mcnaught last night (see previous post) and i've been able to explore the whole southern sky! it's like a whole new universe but with the same familiar milky way disk rising and setting.... orion stands on his head... alpha centauri, our nearest stellar neighbor, shines brightly and points to the southern cross which reminds me of the harmonic crosby, stills, nash and young lyrics...
When you see the Southern Cross for the first time
You understand now why you came this way
'Cause the truth you might be runnin' from is so small
But it's as big as the promise, the promise of a comin' day
Friday, July 20, 2007
one last hurrah
one last adventure before i leave chile... rachel, rodrigo and i leave bright and early tomorrow morning to drive to the northern deserts around the city of san pedro de atacama... to see the valley of the moon, flamingoes, salt lakes, volcanos and who knows what else!!
i cant believe i leave chile so soon!!
i cant believe i leave chile so soon!!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
let's go east!
marcel is currently in the US so i'm borrowing his car! i feel a strange sense of freedom combined with laziness being able to drive a car anywhere. the first day i had the car, i took a few other carless astronomers to the store in town and we bought all the big things that are a regular pain to carry home. then rachel and i discussed taking a day trip on sunday... we decided: "let's go east!"the trip turned out to be a lot fun and full of random adventures, eventhough it was easter sunday in this very catholic country! we passed thru a small town, vicuna, just beyond where the turn off is to the observatory. the main road passed right thru the town, but after i saw a tower a few blocks away, i decided to turn off the main road... we found the town square and discovered, to our delight, that they were having a little festival! we got out to walk around, shopped a little and listened to a band. we were pleasantly surprised that anything was open on easter, but the place was really hopping! vicuna is the birthplace of gabriel mistral... a famous writer with her picture on the 2000 peso bill. the guy introducing the band didnt even mention easter, he just mentioned her and the firefighters who were being honored. i thought that was strange... but even stranger is the fact that when i just googled "vicuna" i discovered the tower is actually called the bauer tower! cool!
onward.... we continued driving east thru the elqui valley. its a narrow valley with grape orchards running right up along the road, surrounded by rocky, colorful and steep mountains! i wonder what minerals are present in the surface layers of the rock to create such distinct sections of color!
eventally we found ourselves driving next to a bright green river. it looked so refreshing on the warm sunny day, that we decided to pull off the road and go for a swim! nothing is more refreshing than a skinny dip in a freezing cold river in the middle of a desert! it was a lot of fun!
after drying off in the sun like a couple lizards, we set off again. the two lane paved road abruptly ended and we continued along a dirt road, meandering thru the valley next to the now blue river. at this point we thought... why not go to argentina? the last chilean town on the map was juntas. we kept driving and wondered how far it was. i knew only knew we were climbing in altitude because my ears kept popping. we finally reached a building, which turned out to be the entry/exit point for chile and made up the entirety of the "town" of juntas. we pulled up, got out of the car, showed the guy our passports and said that we just wanted to cross the border to walk around the first town in argentina. this seemed to go over alright for a few minutes, but then the second man we talked to demanded to look at all the paperwork for the car. we agreed that the car didnt belong to us, it was marcel's... and therefore, he said, we were not allowed to take it across the border unless we had a written note from marcel giving us permission, by name. damn damn! note to self, next time get a note to drive to argentina. check.
the man proceded to tell us of a "laguna" that was about 30 km up the road. we could drive to see it before reaching to the official border if we wanted. sounded good to us, so off we went!
the border was still another 80 km up the road. we drove the 30km along the twisty dirt road, only passing one car the whole time... and an empty truck parked at a farm with at least 50 goats hanging around unattended. we eventually saw a sign for la laguna and turned off the main road onto a steep little dirt driveway. we had to pass thru a gate with a sign saying "recinto privado". we thought this was a bit weird, but kept going. when we reached the end of the driveway, we realized that we were at the river at the bottom of the laguna... after we noticed the big rock dam! oops.
there was a small compound of houses on the river with men walking around outside, so we decided to ask. there were 5 or so rugged looking men, a little ~2 year old boy, a ton of friendly dogs and a mule. they all sort of gawked at us gringas as they told us that they were the keepers of the dam. they stayed there all winter, sometimes having to dig their way out of the houses thru the snow, in order to maintain the dam. they lived in this really simple set of ranch style homes that surrounded a single fountain. my mind drifted away from the conversation since i couldnt really understand all the spanish. my eyes noticed the details of the compound, the man pushing the mule out of the way as it encroached upon the conversation, the little boy shyly running in and out of a doorway, the fountain.... the fountain consisted of rocks stacked up in the center of the little pool and on top of the rocks was a big barbie-type doll... naked... with her hands reaching up into her curly blond hair, and water coming out of her nipples!! aaaahhhhh! i couldnt believe it! i laughed to myself as i wondered how long it had been there! just then, rachel started walking away toward the door where the little boy was standing. i realized the man must have invited us in. i was a bit nervous about this move, but my curiosity quickly won! he invited us in to see pictures of the winter snow. there are feet and feet and feet of snow in the valley in the winter.... like a glacier coming down the valley! amazing that they survive the snow, the cold and the 6300 foot elevation without leaving for months!! next to the snow pictures was a pretty explicit girly calendar... not entirely unexpected i guess, but i really had to resist the little laugh i felt in my throat!
we thanked them for their stories and kindness, and continued up the road toward la laguna. when we found the gigantic body of water, we pulled over, ate the yummy empanadas we brought with us, and watched the beginning of the sunset on the water and the peaks of argentina...
after a little while we decided that we felt satisfied with our adventure and turned around to go home. we stopped in vicuna again for a yummy dinner of soup, salmon and cold vegetables. always in chile they serve some sort of grilled meat, chicken or fish with cold veggies like tomatoes, avocados and palm hearts. we arrived home around 10 pm, happy and exhausted!
UPDATE: nipple fountain pictures!!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
KMOS on the very large telescope
the very large telescope array (VLT) is a fascinating and beautiful set of four 8-meter diameter telescopes in the high plains of northern chile. the telescopes can be used together to create one large interferometer, or they can each be used individually with the unique instruments that have been crafted specially for each one.
A new instrument that will be attached to one of the VLT telescopes in the not-too-distant future (next year?) is the K-band (near-infrared) multi-object spectrograph, or more simply, KMOS.
as part of his backstage science series, brady was lucky enough to get a tour of the instrument as it is currently being constructed in scotland. we are lucky enough that he made a video of his experience that we can all watch!
KMOS is an instrument i'm excited to (hopefully) use one day and this video gives a good idea of how technically challenging these upgrades are (remember, the telescope is already built, this is just how the light is processed after it bounces off the main big mirrors!), and it gives some insight to purpose of the robot on the UK schmidt telescope that i showed photos of a few weeks ago.
enjoy!
A new instrument that will be attached to one of the VLT telescopes in the not-too-distant future (next year?) is the K-band (near-infrared) multi-object spectrograph, or more simply, KMOS.
as part of his backstage science series, brady was lucky enough to get a tour of the instrument as it is currently being constructed in scotland. we are lucky enough that he made a video of his experience that we can all watch!
KMOS is an instrument i'm excited to (hopefully) use one day and this video gives a good idea of how technically challenging these upgrades are (remember, the telescope is already built, this is just how the light is processed after it bounces off the main big mirrors!), and it gives some insight to purpose of the robot on the UK schmidt telescope that i showed photos of a few weeks ago.
enjoy!
Thursday, April 12, 2007
jugo surprise!
living in another country provides endless entertainment. the most simple things often present surprising results. like today, i opened some orange juice that i bought yesterday and jumped with surprise when i poured into my glass a creamy-colored liquid with an orange tint!!
during our long flight to chile, marcel warned me about the "juice". i thought this was a curious quirk to highlight, but i listened with intrigue. he told me to be careful of the orange juice ("jugo de naranja") because oftentimes it is actually "nectar de naranja". nectar de naranja is a highly sweetened drink that happens to be orange. it doesnt really taste like orange juice, in my opinion it tastes like tangy sugar water. you can find actual jugo de naranja in stores, but its more expensive and you have to really look for it. i was craving real orange juice, so i spent time looking for it at the store yesterday.
amid the aisle of nectars, i found one box called "so natural naranja" that looked promising and since i couldnt find any jugo, i bought it. foiled again! the creamy liquid that i bought (think melted orange creamsicle) tastes alright, but i wouldnt call it orange juice. next time i'll have to make sure i see the word "jugo" on the packaging!
during our long flight to chile, marcel warned me about the "juice". i thought this was a curious quirk to highlight, but i listened with intrigue. he told me to be careful of the orange juice ("jugo de naranja") because oftentimes it is actually "nectar de naranja". nectar de naranja is a highly sweetened drink that happens to be orange. it doesnt really taste like orange juice, in my opinion it tastes like tangy sugar water. you can find actual jugo de naranja in stores, but its more expensive and you have to really look for it. i was craving real orange juice, so i spent time looking for it at the store yesterday.
amid the aisle of nectars, i found one box called "so natural naranja" that looked promising and since i couldnt find any jugo, i bought it. foiled again! the creamy liquid that i bought (think melted orange creamsicle) tastes alright, but i wouldnt call it orange juice. next time i'll have to make sure i see the word "jugo" on the packaging!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
ham and jam
so much for star gazing during this week on the mountain top! eventhough its a new moon now, i'm stuck under the thickest layer of clouds i've seen over these mountains! weather sources last night reported that the freezing line would be at 3,500 meters which is higher than the 2722 meter (8930 ft) altitude of cerro pachon and the gemini-south telescope. when i woke up this afternoon, i saw exactly where the 3500m line is on the nearby mountains across the valley due to the nice layer of snow that appeared overnight! 
a while back i mentioned that i enjoyed the dinners at this observatory because there is usually some unidentifiable food item served. as i've lived in chile, i've become more familiar with the local delicacies and have recognized almost everything i've eaten on this observing run! i happened to have my camera with me at dinner tonight and (like a dork) took this picture of my salad plate. theres the typical broccoli, peas, corn, an olive, tomatoes and onions, and then... the mystery. i didnt know what that brown tubular thing was for a long time, and even saw it in its raw form at the farmer's market a few times before realizing what it was.... cochayuyo... a kind of seaweed! it's taste is not as strong as a typical green variety, but there is definitely a seaweed flavor to it. i've mostly seen it mashed up in stews more than served plain like this. 
another feature of all night observing is the "night lunch". at this observatory, we fill out a form with many choices for sandwiches and other snacks and then receive a little goodie bag. i decided to be adventurous tonight and try something new. i got one relatively safe sandwich with ham, avocado, cheese and onion. there was an option for "jam" which i was a bit confused about. the flavors looked like the flavors of yogurt that they usually throw into my night lunch so i just chose the apricot. i also created a tocino sandwich, having recently learned that tocino is bacon. i mean, how could one really go wrong with bacon? when i received my night lunch i opened up the sandwiches to inspect and found that you can go wrong with bacon! one sandwich was covered with barely cooked, greasy bacon and the other had both pieces of bread smeared in sticky orange jam! hahaha! oops. i'm not saying that i'm not going to eat them when i get hungry, but i've never had a ham and jam sandwich before!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
eat food, mostly plants
a couple things i've learned from my own experience and from micheal pollan, author of in defense of food:
i enjoy real food! i love eating with family and friends. i'm most satisfied when i cook my food!!!!
i try not to eat anything my great-grandmother wouldnt recognize (i read ingredients... if there are more than about 5, i usually dont know what they are!)
i dont eat on the go... in a car.... while walking... i like to sit down and appreciate my food!
when i moved back to austin, i joined a locally-grown food delivery service called greenling. every week they deliver a huge box of veggies and fruits, grown on central texas farms to my front door!!!! i absolutely LOVE it! the fresh food tastes wonderful, i pay about $35 a week for whatever has been harvested in the last week, the food lasts me the entire week, i think my allergies have reduced immensely due to eating local foods, i've learned how to cook many new foods that i never would have bought on my own at the grocery store, i havent been sick since i moved back, in general i feel healthy... i must say its one of the best things i've ever done!! and since i am carless, it's amazingly nice to not have to grocery shop with a backpack to carry stuff home!
i walked to the farmers market when i lived in chile and enjoyed learning about new foods that were grown at farms just down the valley, and now i feel like i'm getting a glimpse of what farmers in my area around austin are actually doing. it's great.
anyway, here's micheal pollan speaking at google. the video is an hour long, and it's completely worth it...
i enjoy real food! i love eating with family and friends. i'm most satisfied when i cook my food!!!!
i try not to eat anything my great-grandmother wouldnt recognize (i read ingredients... if there are more than about 5, i usually dont know what they are!)
i dont eat on the go... in a car.... while walking... i like to sit down and appreciate my food!
when i moved back to austin, i joined a locally-grown food delivery service called greenling. every week they deliver a huge box of veggies and fruits, grown on central texas farms to my front door!!!! i absolutely LOVE it! the fresh food tastes wonderful, i pay about $35 a week for whatever has been harvested in the last week, the food lasts me the entire week, i think my allergies have reduced immensely due to eating local foods, i've learned how to cook many new foods that i never would have bought on my own at the grocery store, i havent been sick since i moved back, in general i feel healthy... i must say its one of the best things i've ever done!! and since i am carless, it's amazingly nice to not have to grocery shop with a backpack to carry stuff home!
i walked to the farmers market when i lived in chile and enjoyed learning about new foods that were grown at farms just down the valley, and now i feel like i'm getting a glimpse of what farmers in my area around austin are actually doing. it's great.
anyway, here's micheal pollan speaking at google. the video is an hour long, and it's completely worth it...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
the summit of mauna kea: sixty symbols
one of my favorite aspects of being a professional astronomer is visiting major telescope facilities and observing. on this blog, i've discussed observing in chile and hawaii quite a bit. finally, sixty symbols shares with you a video version of the experience of observing on mauna kea, hawaii.
see some extra footage and interviews a the periodic videos blog.
see some extra footage and interviews a the periodic videos blog.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
puyehue volcano eruption
after silence for 50 years, the puyehue volcano in southern chile erupted on saturday. there are many amazing photos here, but i think these two are stunning:
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
full moon
i sat in amazement at the brightness of the full moon two nights ago as my crisp moonshadow followed me around my neighborhood. it was the last full moon i'll see in chile during this trip. i'll be watching over the next two weeks as the slivers of light fade each night and the full moon dims to new. the dark sky of the nearly new moon this august will accompany the perseid meteor shower... at least for those of you in the north.
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