The Next Generation Transit Survey is being commissioned at Paranal. It will consists of 12 small telescopes, all operating remotely to search for planets around other stars. I went over there to take some photos as they were preparing for their official first light.
Geostationary satellites
Saturday July 26th 2014
A half hour exposure reveals a string of stationary lights over Paranal, strung out roughly along the celestial equator. They are all geostationary satellites, orbiting at an altitude of 36,000 km where it takes exactly 24 hours to orbit the Earth.
Coffee at Paranal
Sunday July 27th 2014
Coffee helps me appreciate the wonders of the universe, and the wonders of the universe help me appreciate my coffee.
