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Hi from Chile

Putaendo Patrick

By Putaendo Patrick
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Putaendo Patrick

Putaendo Patrick

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Hi, I'm originally from England (Winchester and then Norwich) but I've lived in Chile for the last 20 years. As a teenager I was fascinated by astronomy and at school belonged to an "astronomy club". One of the teachers was particularly interested in meteors.

Now in my 50s I've returned to the hobby. I've recently bought a Celestron Omni 120mm/1000mm refractor (I just like refractors) and have 25, 18, 7.5 and 5.5 mm eyepieces together with a 2x Barlow, and my first impressions are great! I've also been observing the southern hemisphere night sky with binoculars and the naked-eye, obviously having to re-learn what I sort of knew as a kid in the northern hemisphere. I live about 100km north of Santiago in a rural area in the foothills of the Andes mountains, and there are excellent dark sites in the area (although it's far from the famous Atacama Desert where the international observatories are located!).

I am also the volunteer director of a small cultural centre, and next year I hope to begin an outreach programme with local schools to provide opportunities for basic visual observation of the moon, planets, and major DSOs. If anyone has experience in this, I love to get in contact.

All told, I am thrilled to be back in the hobby. Of course, having just got my new telescope, nights have been predictably cloudy! Even so, a couple of nights have seen me working Orion and the Pleiades. Spectacular!

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Putaendo Patrick

Putaendo Patrick

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Thanks everyone for the warm welcome.

MarsG76: You are normally quite right for central and especially north Chile, although the south can be very wet indeed. This year, however, the experts are noting the effect of the "El Niño" (the Boy) weather phenomenon and predicting unstable conditions through to December. Of course, the real fault is this boy here who dared to buy a telescope thus guaranteeing poor seeing - Murphy's Law or something. :huh:

Charon: As a teen, I think in 1975 or 76, I had a great holiday in Crete. I remember watching the Perseid meteor shower across the sea from a deserted bay near Heraklion. One meteor really lit up the night sky - a vivid memory I still treasure after 40 years. :smiley:

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