Over
the weekend, I was lucky enough to travel to La Serena, a beach town in
northern Chile. It had wonderful seafood, a great beach, and is within
two hours of Vally Elqui, a national park/ valley in-between two
mountain ranges. The valley is a picturesque paradise, containing dirt
paths where I was able to bike from pueblo to pueblo and enjoy the
river, the local food, and even a local pisco distillery. Vally Elqui
also is a special place because it has close to zero light pollution, so
you are able to see the beauty in the sky almost every night. I had
never been to a space observatory, but after taking a tour and learning
so much about space, I am questioning why I never got into space and how
amazing it is.
So
Chile is a special place for space observation. Here are some facts to
show just how important it has become. Over 70% of space observations
are done in Chile. It is estimated in the future that number will be
90%. Chile holds the Atacama Desert which is the driest place on earth.
At some point in time, it had not received rain in over 40 years.
It may not have the technology, but it has the sky. Europe and the United States have the technology, but they have lost the sky. Light pollution has made so many places unable to see stars in the sky. The sky is now black in so many parts of the world. It is pretty disturbing that so many parts of the world are now unable to see space because of light pollution.
Crazy future thoughts: space may be the future for resources. The world will run out of resources eventually, and that will probably be sooner than people think. In order to accommodate the continued population increase, we may have to look outside of our planet. Things in space are made out of the same particles as things on earth. Because of this, there are some asteroids containing gold, steel, and platinum. Astronomers found an asteroid made out of almost complete platinum valued at 5 trillion dollars in 2015. I know that this may be crazy talk because we as a planet are nowhere close to being technologically ready for things like asteroid mining, but it may be the future.
I’m not done with the space stuff. Here comes some more:
So I also didn’t realize that the northern and southern hemispheres can see some different stars/constellations. Sailors in the northern hemisphere use Polaris to guide their direction. Well in the southern hemisphere, you can’t see Polaris. People use the Southern Cross made out of four stars that point towards true south. It isn´t as easy as Polaris though. From where the cross points down, use the length of the cross four and a half times. Where that position occurs is true south.
Also, as my group was finding constellations in the sky, I realized that almost all of the constellations don’t look like the picture that they are supposed to describe. Lots of imagination went into most of the constellations. That being said, they are all still so beautiful.
This
past weekend was a learning experience as well as a growth experience.
It was my first time traveling alone and I really only had one true
conversation in English. That sense of discovery and accomplishment
carried me over the feelings of being in a different place and not
knowing anyone. I’m looking forward to more travels as well as personal
growth and meeting new people.
It may not have the technology, but it has the sky. Europe and the United States have the technology, but they have lost the sky. Light pollution has made so many places unable to see stars in the sky. The sky is now black in so many parts of the world. It is pretty disturbing that so many parts of the world are now unable to see space because of light pollution.
Crazy future thoughts: space may be the future for resources. The world will run out of resources eventually, and that will probably be sooner than people think. In order to accommodate the continued population increase, we may have to look outside of our planet. Things in space are made out of the same particles as things on earth. Because of this, there are some asteroids containing gold, steel, and platinum. Astronomers found an asteroid made out of almost complete platinum valued at 5 trillion dollars in 2015. I know that this may be crazy talk because we as a planet are nowhere close to being technologically ready for things like asteroid mining, but it may be the future.
I’m not done with the space stuff. Here comes some more:
So I also didn’t realize that the northern and southern hemispheres can see some different stars/constellations. Sailors in the northern hemisphere use Polaris to guide their direction. Well in the southern hemisphere, you can’t see Polaris. People use the Southern Cross made out of four stars that point towards true south. It isn´t as easy as Polaris though. From where the cross points down, use the length of the cross four and a half times. Where that position occurs is true south.
Also, as my group was finding constellations in the sky, I realized that almost all of the constellations don’t look like the picture that they are supposed to describe. Lots of imagination went into most of the constellations. That being said, they are all still so beautiful.
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Read more from Luke at https://lukeinchilesite.wordpress.com/
To find more internship and study abroad opportunities
within Walton College, visit http://walton.uark.edu/global/index.php
