2016A Day 7: The Hunt

We had a good night going. We think we’ve found a solution to the ASM electronics problem — one of us just has to get out of bed early and warm it up before dinner. That did the trick tonight, no problems since. But we’ve been stuck with a bum guider for the last 3 or 4 hours of the night. We need the guider to find the star, and occasionally to get the telescope in shape. Troubleshooting is in progress at dawn.

The observatory has been patrolled by several, up to 5 at a time, raptors since I’ve been here. This one was sitting on one of the GMTs new poles.

Hawk on a pole

We got a real treat yesterday morning: this hawk was hunting vizzies behind the telescope. Watch how it uses the wind, and listen to the viscachas whistle. They don’t seem too worried though.

This song should be played loudly: