Chucky
arrived at the summit
of Cerro Tololo on a bright, sunny day. The weather looked great for
his first night of observing on the 4.0-meter
telescope.
Operating the sophisticated
instrumentation on the 4.0-meter is a taxing job. Especially if
your arms don't reach to the keyboard!
After
a long night of observing, the drive down the mountain is filled with
the anticipation of sweet sleep.
Chucky fortifies himself with the fine cafeteria cuisine for another
night of observing. Shop talk between astronomers is always a
highlight of the meal. Here, Paul Harding and John Graham joke with
Chucky about the quality of the weather.
Sometimes,
Chucky breaks up his routine by walking up to the telescopes. Here,
he checks out the newly arrived GONG
equipment.
Exhausted after his 15-night run, Chucky waits at the Round Office
Building for the carryall back to the nearby town of La
Serena. There lie the homes
and offices of the CTIO staff, along with a motel which caters to
the needs of weary astronomers.
Tragically,
Chucky's extended observing run must have been too long for him. His
sanity snapped like a dry twig on a hot day in the Atacama
Desert. He somehow made his way into the motel room of a fellow
astronomer, Darren
DePoy, where he lay in wait till the hapless DePoy returned. The
gruesome results are only to evident from this photo, snapped by
DePoy as he hobbled from the scene of the senseless act.
Denouement: You will be pleased to know that Darren recovered from his shin injury. Chucky has been permanently banished to the Tololo summit, where a restraining order (and several drywall screws) prevent a recurrence of this ugly series of events. However, you can never be too sure ... astronomers should beware on those dark, fog-shrouded June nights. That rustling in the cactus may be none other than Chucky!