• A good day

    And so the good mood returns, with a vengeance. Today was a splendid day. The seeing was fantastic well into the afternoon, and we observed a group of sunspot in an active region where flare after flare was going off before our eyes. The data set from today alone might…

  • Learning to live

    September is here. Today the term starts at the university back home. It feels overwhelmingly strange to not be responsible for and stressing over and being excited about a dozen things. September is usually one of the busiest months for me, what with new courses to study for, an astronomy…

  • Volcanoes, aborigines and Solar worship

    Adventures were had. On my free day this week I made some excursions, and learned a few things about La Palma. For example:  Like the other Canary islands, La Palma formed after volcanic eruptions in the Atlantic ocean some millions of years ago. They formed from East to West starting…

  • Location, location, location!

    There seems to be some confusion about exactly where in the world I’m actually staying at the moment, so let’s clear things up a bit. There is a place called Palma de Mallorca, which is a town on the island Mallorca. It lies in the Mediterranean ocean outside the Spanish…

  • Vacation and weather

    I’ve been here for a week now. It’s my turn to fully take over as assistant, after having had Karl show me the ropes. Everything is getting less and less confusing, and even though I think I will never understand all the technical details I think I can handle it.…

  • This windy, starry mountain

    It’s a bit windy today. And when I say “a bit” I mean “hell of”. About 20 metres per second up here on the mountain-top. Enough to make opening the door difficult, and almost enough to knock you off your feet if you’re not careful when heading out. It was…

  • First impressions of La Palma

    And so the adventure begins. Holy shit people, I am currently located at a volcanic island, at the top of a 2.4 km mountain, the farthest south I’ve ever been, in a telescope building. Holy shit! How did this happen? I’ve begun my ten-week assistantship at the Swedish Solar Telescope…