Painting a telescope
Yesterday I showed a group around the WHT, and I noticed that the Swedish Solar Telescope is being repainted. (Follow the link for more about the telescope.)
observatory
New enormous Cherenkov telescopes
It’s not quite a done deal, but it looks as though La Palma will be getting another 20 Chrenkov telescopes. The board of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) met on the 15th and 16th of July, and decided that their two preferred sitres are La Palma and Chile (near the Paranal observatory). Negotiations will now start with the site owners, and are expected to take 6 months. Meanwhile, they’ll…
Sunset at the Roque
For the last few days, Venus and Jupiter have been very close together in the evening sky. I wanted to take photos on Wednesday and Thursday, but it was cloudy. I wished I’d asked to go up to the observatory, above the clouds. Lucky me, I got permission to go there on Friday evening to take photos. I’m really glad I made the effort.
Feeding Ravens at the Roque
This morning the ravens came to say hello to my group of tourists. To begin with they’d eat food I left for them, then they moved on to eating out of my hand, and now they’ll jump onto my arm or shoulder, if I make it worth their while. Jose Luis Rodrigo Alonso took this great photo of the cheekier one on my arm, helping himself from the box…
Amazon links
Well, I finally got my books on sale. I would very, very much appreciate reviews. I’m not asking anyone to lie, but if you liked any of my books, please put in a review. And if you didn’t like it, you are, of course, completely entitled to your opinion, but perhaps you’d like a cup of tea instead? And if you see anything wrong with the listing, please, please tell…
Explaining Astrophysics to this year’s Transvulcania Winner.
One of the fun things about Thursday’s job was meeting Luis Alberto Hernando. Not only was he the favourite to win this year (which he did in an amazing 6:52:39), but he’s also my kind of bonkers. (For those of you who don’t know Spanish, I’m translating myself into Spanish, and then he’s saying the same thing without the Mad Scientist accent. Very seriously.)