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Juan Carlos Muñoz's posts Back to profile
10 posts total
Juan Carlos Muñoz
Juan Carlos Muñoz
John Francis

@astro_jcm not sure if eclipse-related or northern hemisphere weather related...

28 Oct 2024 at 15:38 | Open on mastodon.social
Matt Clarke
Juan Carlos Muñoz
Juan Carlos Muñoz

I really miss the night sky in #Chile , in particular the Magellanic Clouds – two dwarf galaxies orbiting our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

In the Mapudungun language in south-central Chile they are known as lafken, labken or künchalabken (“the lagoons”), as well as rünanko (“the water wells”).

Here I photographed them above ESO's Paranal Observatory in northern Chile.

#astronomy #astronomia #astrophotography #astrodon #space #universe

A vertical image of the night sky over a desert landscape. There's a road, flanked by very faint yellow light indicators, leading to the flattened summit of a mountain. Several metallic-looking telescope domes are on that mountain-top. In the starry sky there are two blue nebulous clouds, one larger than the other – the Magellanic Clouds.
11 Apr 2023 at 12:28 | Open on mastodon.online
Juan Carlos Muñoz

The first results from ESO telescopes on the DART controlled impact on an asteroid are out! Two teams monitored the aftermath of the collision with two instruments at ESO's Very Large Telescope: MUSE, which breaks up light into its constituent colours, and FORS, which can study polarised light. Both observations provided clues about the composition of the material ejected after the impact.

Check it out: eso.org/public/news/eso2303/

#astronomy #astrodon #asteroid #space

📷 ESO/Opitom et al.

The first results from ESO telescopes on the DART controlled impact on an asteroid are out! Two teams monitored the aftermath of the collision with two instruments at ESO's Very Large Telescope: MUSE, which breaks up light into its constituent colours, and FORS, which can study polarised light. Both observations provided clues about the composition of the material ejected after the impact.

This image shows a total of 16 small images in a four by four grid, each taken on a different date. At the centre of each image is a light blue fuzzy dot over a black background. In the first image the dot is surrounded by a diffuse halo, which morphs into different structures before eventually becoming a long tail pointing towards the right in the last image.
21 Mar 2023 at 13:10 | Open on mastodon.online
Dr. Johanna Hartke

@astro_jcm Cool stuff! And the fact that the tail neatly fits between the brightest star trails brings me great joy 😃

21 Mar 2023 at 13:33 | Open on astrodon.social
Juan Carlos Muñoz

Look at these images of Europa and Ganymede taken with ESO's VLT in Chile! The moons are tiny as seen from Earth, about the size of a 1 Euro coin 3-5 km away. Using adaptive optics we can measure and correct atmospheric turbulence, yielding sharp images like these – the smallest details are only ~150 km! I used to operate this instrument back when I worked at the VLT, and I loved observing Solar System objects like these.

More info: eso.org/public/images/potw2241

Credit: ESO/King & Fletcher

Look at these images of Europa and Ganymede taken with ESO's VLT in Chile! The moons are tiny as seen from Earth, about the size of a 1 Euro coin 3-5 km away. Using adaptive optics we can measure and correct atmospheric turbulence, yielding sharp images like these – the smallest details are only ~150 km! I used to operate this instrument back when I worked at the VLT, and I loved observing Solar System objects like these.

This image shows a black and white image of Jupiter. In front of the giant planet in a plane are images of its icy moons Europa and Ganymede. These images show the moons in beige, like sand, and blue, with darker and brighter regions. Below the planet there are larger images of the moons, with timestamps that indicate these images being captured on different days, revealing different sides of the moons.
10 Oct 2022 at 12:58 | Open on mastodon.online
Juan Carlos Muñoz

I'm sure you love astronomical images taken with professional telescopes. But do you know what it takes to actually make them? You'll be surprised by how many people are involved!

I just wrote an article explaining the whole process, from the moment an astronomer has an idea to when you see the final result.

Check it out: eso.org/public/blog/it-takes-a

#astronomy #astrophotography

📷 ESO

Telescopic image of the Helix Nebula. The nebula is oval-shaped. There are some faint streaks pointing towards the centre, making the nebula look like a human eye. The outer shells look orange due to emission coming from hydrogen and nitrogen, whereas the inner parts look blue due to oxygen emission.
15 Jun 2022 at 8:53 | Open on mastodon.online
Juan Carlos Muñoz

If you're in Chile or are planning to visit soon, ESO's observatories are reopening for in-person visits!

The tours are free, but you have to register in advance: eso.org/public/announcements/a

I'm biased 'cause I worked there for 7 years, but it's totally worth it!

📷 ESO/J. Kupec

Image of a radio telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The antenna is facing away, towards the brown hills of the desert in the background. Dozens of visitors are lined up along the road leading to the antenna.
30 May 2022 at 10:48 | Open on mastodon.online
Juan Carlos Muñoz

This is one of the most spectacular sunsets I ever saw while working at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile.

The Atacama Desert is extremely dry, but clouds do show up sometimes. That day there were several dark clouds releasing very light rain that vaporised before reaching the ground. These wispy veils (called "virga") were lit by the golden sunset light, creating a lovely contrast with the blue sky above.

#astronomy #astrophotography

A stormy sunset over ESO's Paranal Observatory. There are three identical white telescope domes, one to the lower-right in the foreground and two to the background at the center left. The sky is blue, with several dark clouds. There are wispy veils of rain that don't quite touch the ground. These veils as well as the telescopes are bathed in the golden sunset light coming from the right (the Sun itself isn't visible in this image).
8 May 2022 at 14:36 | Open on mastodon.online
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Juan Carlos Muñoz

Can you trap a galaxy in a crystal ball? I tried! Back in 2018 I took this image of the Milky Way through a crystal ball from ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile.

#astronomy #astrophotography

Long exposure image of the night sky showing the Milky Way through a glass ball. The core of the Milky Way is in focus within the ball. In the background, the Milky Way and some bright stars are out of focus. The ball is resting on a small base on top of a handrail.
3 May 2022 at 9:35 | Open on mastodon.online
Juan Carlos Muñoz

If you look carefully you can even recognise some constellations. Due to the way the ball projects the image, the constellations in the background and within the ball are symmetric relative to the center of the ball.

Long exposure image of the night sky showing the Milky Way through a glass ball. The core of the Milky Way is in focus within the ball. In the background, the Milky Way and some bright stars are out of focus. The ball is resting on a small base on top of a handrail. Three constellations – Scorpius, Corona Australis and Sagittarius – arre outlined, both in the background image and within the ball.
3 May 2022 at 9:39 | Open on mastodon.online
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