Posts Made By: Rod Kaufman

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

Very true. I don’t know why I bother responding to his antics, but everyone needs a hobby and it’s too cold to do any astronomy this time of year, especially today. Dang, it’s 7 degrees F right now and going up to a balmy 11 degrees.

As a noted world traveler I should be heading down to the Winter Star Party, but still recovering from my shoulder surgery and didn’t think wrangling an 80 lb. overbuilt dob would be too good for it.

I couldn't do any viewing recently with the high winds in the area and the full moon phase but did so last month with a good night of observations near the Mt Pinos observational areas with temps in the low 30s. I did roll my 16" f4.5 astrosystems dob out in front of my moderately light polluted home Sunday evening and did A-B with the new 8mm eyepiece in my collection on Venus, Jupiter and Mars. Lousy seeing and poor to average transparency but I still managed some decent views until clouds arrived later in the evening. Awoke this AM with ice on the car and the second day in a row for that and I'm only 40 miles north of Los Angeles.

I meet with the county on Wed morning for a meeting to hopefully finalize the update to the ROLD light pollution ordinance based upon the input of my committee. It had been rescheduled due to the fires and I'm glad it got rescheduled given all that's happening in the county right now...

Originally Posted by Maurice Clark

Hi World Traveler (TM)

7F sounds a little chilly! I decided to fly way south for the winter. Here is West Oz it has been 100+ for the past 2 weeks and this week it is around 115F. Even at night it is around 90F. Been great observing. Naked eye limiting magnitude 7.2 or better. 3 telescopes for visual and photographic observing. A beautiful aurora, a naked eye comet, and the magnificent southern skies... great fun. I would invite you to join me but I will be heading to Malaysia in 3 weeks. I plan to be back permanently by the middle of the year, so if you would like to come over to observe the southern skies then let me know.

Stay warm.

"Naked eye limiting magnitude 7.2 or better. 3 telescopes for visual..."

Awesome!

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

Thank you Rod. I will do the same. Observing in the Atacama is on my bucket list and I'll use the tourism angle in a letter.

Thanks Jim. The tourism angle is a good idea. Hopefully, the others have responded, too.

Originally Posted by David Cotterell

I will be at the Atacama Lodge from April 23 to May 1.  Our group is considering a tour of Paranal.....

Dave

Cool! And thanks for sending a letter.

Originally Posted by Richard Davis

Reports are that there were rumors going around the insane asylum that you wrote a letter and were waiting to hear back from Ambassador Valdes.....  Film at 11

The other inmates took your lead and they sent emails as well.

I think the only one around this forum who may wind up in an asylum is you but then again, you're just looking for a reaction to your rants anyway...

The latest update for the rest of the "sane" members of the forum:

"These two things cannot be in the same place. It's as simple as that," said Barcons. "This clean hydrogen plant would be perfectly O.K. for us only 50 kilometers [31 miles] away. We don't think there is any reason why it couldn't be moved."

"AES Chile, the Chile-based subsidiary of the AES Corporation, submitted an environmental impact assessment to the Chilean Environmental Impact Agency in late December. The agency will conduct a public consultation before deciding about the project. In a statement issued on Dec. 30, 2024, AES Chile said that the project is in early stages and that no investment decision had yet been taken."


https://www.space.com/space-exploration/worlds-largest-telescope-threatened-by-light-pollution-from-renewable-energy-project

Originally Posted by Jim Moscheck

I've had doubts you were an amateur astronomer and these last few posts you've made reinforce that argument. Do you know anything about the huge investments many countries have made in Chile building all of these instruments, operating them, and probably employing lots of local residents along the way? Have you never wondered what the southern skies would be like in a place that dark?

You KNOW what kind of a nut he is, so any hope for anything beyond that is, unfortunately, a lost cause...

I've been in contact with one of the astrophysicists at the ESO complex who is concurrently a Phd candidate at Stanford involved the efforts to protect the observatories.
She has sent a a number of links regarding these efforts. I'm sure she won't mind me sharing this translation since she's obviously submitted it to the Chilean government. I'll also note that one of her links was a video from CNN Chile that highlighted the issue for national attention.

 "The threat to the Chilean sky: a future without stars?"

"In recent weeks, astronomers Teresa Ruiz and José Maza, winners of the National Prizes for Exact Sciences, warned in national newspapers about the possible construction of a green hydrogen plant: the INNA project of AES Andes. This would be just 7 kilometers from one of the most important areas in the world for astronomy, Cerro Paranal of the European Southern Observatory (ESO), a true temple of astrophysics. Last Thursday, ESO made this threat public, warning that an irreplaceable heritage for humanity would be lost, which creates a precedent for all astronomical agencies that use Chilean soil to be alert.
Although the Atacama Desert concentrates practically 60% of the world's astronomical infrastructure, a large part of the Chilean population does not know why these advanced laboratories are located in our country and not in their investor countries. Our extreme geography, unique climate, strategic position in the southern hemisphere and low light pollution are critical factors, but Chilean legislation is - to use a politically correct term - weak and even permissive, for the standards required by these observatories. That is the great concern that this generates.
Chile needs innovation for its development, and these observatories are at the forefront of scientific advances. By law, national students and researchers have access to these facilities, earning the respect of the international scientific community, despite having a very limited budget to develop their science.
Let us think about the image we would project to the European Union and the United States, the main astronomical investors, if we do not fulfill our promise to preserve these pristine skies. If the light regulations are not adjusted, the only stars visible from our country will be the Sun and our flag waving uncomfortably between heat waves and international shame.
Economic development and technological progress must -without a doubt- coexist harmoniously, but this facility, its characteristics and its proximity to our window to the universe, seriously jeopardize Chile's continued status as the world's astronomy capital."

Originally Posted by David Cotterell

Every accusation is a confession.
Dave

I happened to inadvertently click on the AM profile of one Rich Davis wherein he describes himself as "The TORMENTOR!!"  Geez, it takes one sick ---- to describe himself as such.

Whether your background is in engineering, business, legal, or whatever, please review the following and respond accordingly:

Please consider the following international issue for a personalized reply to the embassy of Chile similar but not identical regarding the following exchange between myself and the embassy ( The appropriate email contact for the embassy is:  chile.eeuu )

Dear Sir or Madame,

As the co-chair of the light pollution committee of the Los Angeles Astronomical Society, I would like to inform you of our deep concern regarding the possible introduction of an energy-related development of the AES corporation in the Atacama desert.

This proposed development would likely have serious deleterious effects on the premier world- class observatories located in the area immediately adjacent to the development:

https://www.science.org/content/article/chilean-energy-megaproject-threatens-world-s-largest-telescopes

As can be gleaned from the above article, the proposed development could be reasonably located elsewhere in the sparsely populated Antofagasta region, thus minimizing potential risks to the observatories.

The existing observatory sites and their scientific contributions are legendary.  The upcoming giant Magellan telescope is said to be capable of having 4 times the spatial resolution of the James Webb space telescope and ten times the resolution of the Hubble space telescope.

The threat of the proposed development needs to be taken seriously in order to preserve the world class dark skies of the Atacama desert which are truly a national treasure of the great nation of Chile.

My hope is that this email finds its way to the honorable Ambassador from Chile, Jaun Gabriel Valdez for his consideration.

Sincerely,

Rod L Kaufman MS
Chairperson, LAAS Light Pollution Committee


Dear Mr. Kaufman,
Thank you very much for your mail and your concern about protecting dark skies in Chile. We will bring your concern to the attention of Ambassador Valdés and the Chilean authorities.
Best regards



Foreign Service
Political Affairs Department
Embassy of Chile
1732 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington D.C. 20036
(office) 202 530 4105
IP 2603
www.minrel.cl