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| The planetary nebula M2-9 as imaged by HST |
This is a photolog providing an insight into what astronomers get up to when they disappear up high mountains.
Also featuring my research student Neil Vaytet.
La Silla was the first observatory built in Chile by the European Southern Observatory. You can find out more on the La Silla web pages.
We were using the ESO (European Southern Observatory) 3.6-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT) to study planetary nebulae (PNe). These are the endpoints of the evolution of stars similar to the Sun. When a star like this runs out of hydrogen fuel in the nuclear furnace at its core, it expands to become a red giant. The outer layers drift off into space and are illuminated by the exposed hot core, a dead star about the the size of the Earth which we call a white dwarf. This glowing gas is called a planetary nebula (a historical misnomer as it has nothing to do with planets).
Some of these nebulae are particularly beautiful but the origin of their complex shapes is still unknown. One theory suggests that the star which ejected the nebula has an orbiting companion which sculpts the outflowing material. We have selected a sample of PNe which are known to have binary central stars and are using a combination of imaging and spectroscopy (splitting the light into a spectrum and using the Doppler shift to measure the speed of expansion) to determine the structure of the nebula and probe any relationship with the central binary itself.
This work is being carried out in collaboration with other astronomers including Myfanwy Bryce and John Meaburn at Manchester, Don Pollacco at Queens University Belfast and Alberto Lopez of the Universidad Nacional Autnoma de Mexico.
Tim O'Brien
 Panoramic view of La Silla Observatory Tue May 1 00:37:23 2007 original - 111 kB |
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 The long (and not winding) road from La Serena to La Silla Fri Apr 27 00:57:31 2007 original - 110 kB  Several telescopes on La Silla Fri Apr 27 00:59:33 2007 original - 95 kB  The same telescopes as the Sun begins to set Fri Apr 27 01:05:54 2007 original - 69 kB  Sunset and the 0.5m ESO telescope (left) and the 0.7-m Swiss telescope Fri Apr 27 01:08:12 2007 original - 34 kB  The Mountains and the Moon in a darkening sky Fri Apr 27 01:09:45 2007 original - 52 kB  The 0.5-m Danish telescope (left) and the 0.5-m ESO telescope at sunset Fri Apr 27 01:12:50 2007 original - 34 kB  The 0.6-m Bochum telescope at sunset Fri Apr 27 01:14:38 2007 original - 36 kB  Sunset over the western slopes of the Andes and the Pacific ocean beyond 1 Fri Apr 27 01:19:27 2007 original - 34 kB  Sunset over the western slopes of the Andes and the Pacific ocean beyond 2 Fri Apr 27 02:09:54 2007 original - 32 kB  The Moon and the 1.52-m Spectrographic telescope with sunset colours Fri Apr 27 06:27:50 2007 original - 75 kB  Neil at sunset flanked by the 0.9-m Dutch telescope (left) and the Danish and ESO 0.5-m telescopes Fri Apr 27 02:15:05 2007 original - 49 kB  Mountain view Sat Apr 28 00:57:11 2007 original - 98 kB  Looking north with the telescopes of the nearby Las Campanas Observatory visible on the skyline just left of centre Sat Apr 28 00:58:21 2007 original - 85 kB  An array of telescopes, from left to right, the 2.2-m ESO-MPI, the 1-m Schmidt, the 3.6m NTT and the 3.6-m Sat Apr 28 01:00:28 2007 original - 93 kB  The NTT atop its rocky outcrop Sat Apr 28 01:01:45 2007 original - 131 kB  The mountains to the northwest Sat Apr 28 01:03:06 2007 original - 55 kB  The misty mountains looking southwest Sat Apr 28 01:04:55 2007 original - 39 kB  The mountains to the northeast Sat Apr 28 01:06:35 2007 original - 83 kB  The Swedish-ESO submillimeter telescope (SEST) viewing an expanse of the southern sky Sat Apr 28 01:08:50 2007 original - 61 kB  Late afternoon at La Silla viewed from the 3.6-m telescope Sat Apr 28 01:11:23 2007 original - 52 kB  Neil considering the photographic possibilities Sat Apr 28 01:12:57 2007 original - 115 kB  Solar occultation by the telescope with no name as the NTT looks on Sat Apr 28 01:14:24 2007 original - 37 kB  Telescopes in late afternoon sun Sat Apr 28 01:16:11 2007 original - 68 kB  Sunset from my balcony Sat Apr 28 01:19:08 2007 original - 39 kB  Neil and Alessandro (one of our support astronomers) in front of the NTT Sun Apr 29 04:25:57 2007 original - 113 kB  Myself and Neil in front of NTT (note fans behind our heads to blow air over mirror) Sun Apr 29 04:28:12 2007 original - 104 kB  Neil with his new friend EMMI at the Nasmyth port of the NTT Sun Apr 29 04:35:02 2007 original - 131 kB  Neil snacks on his pen as Arial (our telescope operator) does the donkey work Sun Apr 29 04:36:51 2007 original - 107 kB  I take the chance to top up my tan from the VDU called BOB (Broker for Observation Blocks) Sun Apr 29 04:42:38 2007 original - 86 kB  I practise sleeping with my eyes open as Neil discusses the finer points of MyCn18 Sun Apr 29 04:48:43 2007 original - 76 kB  Discover your inner geek and check out the seeing conditions and met data from our first night of observations Mon Apr 30 02:22:09 2007 original - 181 kB  Pathway to dawn Mon Apr 30 02:23:48 2007 original - 37 kB  Neil takes advantage of the strong wind and inflates his parka in a vain attempt to fly Mon Apr 30 02:45:56 2007 original - 77 kB  Looking west at dawn - the shadow of the eastern mountains can be seen above the horizon (the more observant may be able to spot inverse anticrepuscular rays, no kidding) Mon Apr 30 02:28:03 2007 original - 74 kB  First light of sunrise catches the western mountaintops whilst mist fills the valleys below Mon Apr 30 02:31:58 2007 original - 40 kB  Early morning light on the western flanks of the Andes Mon Apr 30 02:33:35 2007 original - 64 kB  One of the locals joins us for our evening meal before observing starts Tue May 1 00:21:11 2007 original - 189 kB  The NTT and Venus looking rather like a 21st century Mayan pyramid Tue May 1 00:28:42 2007 original - 63 kB  The RITZ (Remote Integrated Telescope Zentrum) contains control rooms for three telescopes - here the 2.2-m ESO-MPG on the left and the 3.6-m NTT on the right Tue May 1 02:28:32 2007 original - 119 kB  Time is crucial to astronomy - the La Silla Telescopes are synchronised with a high-tech Swiss timepiece in the kitchen of the RITZ - this signal is transported north to Paranal on the back of a Fennec Fox and fed into the VLTI correlator Tue May 1 02:24:40 2007 original - 84 kB | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
