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Re: [APML] A Southern Gem
Chris & Jennifer Cook wrote:
> John - Thanks for the image info.
>
> As far as Chile vs. Australia, I know there are hotels around Ayers Rock to
> stay at but what about in Chile? Michael, I know you and J. Foster have
> stayed on the observatory grounds down there... was it at Las Campanas?
> Since I do not know someone down there, where would one stay during a
> astrophoto expedition? The Cerro Paranal region sounds unbelievable but I
> cannot believe they would allow amateurs to set up on the mountain. I would
> be grateful for any info people have. I'm thinking of planning a trip down
> south for 2002.
>
> Chris
>
> ===============
>
> Hello Chris:
Cerro Parnal sounds like a great place, but I doubt that they would allow
amateurs. It is further north and would have less rainfall. I have read
reports that some areas in the Atacama have rain about once in 100 years. That
probably is an exaggeration, however, in the ten days I visited Carnegie Las
Campanas Observatory (LCO) in February we had perfect weather every day and
night. I actually considered Australia and was even offered a dome at Siding
Springs Observatory (SSO) but turned it down because of the chance of poor
weather and large spiders. At that time SSO was said to be 60% photometric
while LCO was 90%. If weather were not a consideration then Australia would be
a far better choice. You might choose to stay longer in Australia to make up
for the bad weather.
Cerro Parnal and La Silla Observatories are run by the European Southern
Observatory. They are not very friendly and did not even answer my e-mails.
LCO, which is American, is friendlier and did grant me permission to stay there
and photograph. The lodging was free, but they did charge a small amount for
meals. To my knowledge only 5 american amateurs have gone there (3 others --
not on APML -- and James Foster and myself). I would think that we were
probably the last amateurs to go there. They have nearly completed their twin
6.5 meter telescopes which will be used by astronomers from Carnegie, Univ. of
Arizona, Harvard Univ., Univ. of Michigan and MIT. So now they have many more
astronomers to use the facilities and probably do not have enough room for
amateurs. As a matter of fact we lost our room to the Chairman of the Astronomy
Department at Harvard when we stayed there and had to use the observatory's
library, our van and a technicians room for the last few days. If you are
thinking of going there you should contact their headquarters in Pasadena,
California. However, it would probably be better to contact some Chilean
amateurs and ask their advice. I know there is at least one amateur club in the
Valpariso area which I listed on my links page
(http://www.homestead.com/astromike/links.html) that you might want to
checkout. Don't get discouraged. I was told by several people that I would not
be able to find a place in Chile, but I did.
For further information on Chile and LCO see:
http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/chilegeo.html
http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/chile.html
http://www.homestead.com/astromike/astlco.html
http://www.homestead.com/astromike/people1.html
http://www.homestead.com/astromike/links.html
Michael Stecker
>
> >> >> Michael Stecker
> >> >> mstecker@earthlink.net
> >> >> http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/index.html
> >> >> http://www.homestead.com/astromike/astrohp.html
> >> >> http://www.homestead.com/astromike/astrogallery.html
> >> >> http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/placesindex.html
> >> >> http://www.homestead.com/astromike/peopleindex.html
> >> >> http://mstecker.homestead.com/index.html
> >> >> http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/nepalgeo.html
> >> >> http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/iceberg.html
> >> >> http://mstecker.homestead.com/anttxt.html
> >> >> http://mstecker.homestead.com/egyptgeo.html
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
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--
Michael Stecker
mstecker@earthlink.net
http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/index.html
http://www.homestead.com/astromike/astrohp.html
http://www.homestead.com/astromike/astrogallery.html
http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/placesindex.html
http://www.homestead.com/astromike/peopleindex.html
http://mstecker.homestead.com/index.html
http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/nepalgeo.html
http://www.homestead.com/mstecker/iceberg.html
http://mstecker.homestead.com/anttxt.html
http://mstecker.homestead.com/egyptgeo.html
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