SXR208: Observing the Universe, an Astronomy Residential, Mallorca - 19th-26th September 2009

Nosher - as part of what was intended to be a degree in physics - signs up for a week-long residential course doing Astronomy at the Observatorio Astronómio de Mallorca, up in the hills near the small town of Costitx. It's not exactly a holiday, as the course starts at 16:30 when the coach arrives to pick us up, and finishes at about 05:30 - 13 hour days, which don't leave a lot of time for anything else apart from sleep. It's good fun though, despite the variable weather, and there's even some added frisson given by the challenging conditions and the need to swing 12" Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain scopes on target with only a few minutes between clouds.

next album: A Postcard From Palmanova, Mallorca, Spain - 21st September 2009
previous album: Harvest Festival at Jimmy's Farm, Wherstead, Suffolk - 12th September 2009

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Fred plays around outside The Windmill at Stansted

Fred plays around outside The Windmill at Stansted

Fred looks at planes

A Ruinair flight gets q food load-up

The engine says 'no people', which is fair enough

Fred and Isobel on the plane

The coast of Mallorca

A view of the fields and hills of Mallorca

An Air Berlin Airbridge

Fred and Isobel wait for bags at Mallorca Airport

An abandoned bag does the rounds

We arrive at the Planetarium

We scope out meteorites at the observatory

A view of the observatory

The Mily Way in a ten-minute photo

Scoping out Planispheres by torchlight

The observatory is under the flightpath

The Planetarium

Students hang out

Sunset-lit stormclouds on the horizon

Sunset by the planetarium

Inside the computer lab

We make observations on a telescope

Sitting around reading up on projects

Nosher's group check planispheres

Back on the motorway between Costix and Palma

A view of Mallorca

A reflected car on the way to Costitx

Analysing data in the lab

Some of the observing domes

One of the telescopes

The observatories in the olives

Midnight snack in the canteen

A 30-minute shot towards Polaris

Another light trail on the motorway from Costitx

Vibrating lights on the motorway

Kids play in the street in Costitx

Costix street life

The coach has to squeeze through the narrow streets

Olive trees

A sign to the observatori

Prickly Pear cacti

The astronomy crowd

The group after the photo

The group mills around after the photo session

Tutorial in the planetarium

1.5 hour star trail pointing towards Polaris

A much-needed beer

Hotel balconies

An end-of-course beer

Post-course debriefing

Hanging around at the hotel

Headlights: what does it mean?

A room at the airport is full of interesting stuff

Ars(e)