With Belen, Paranal, Chile - observing run in April 2013. (picture from Belen)

Getting ready for observations - observing run in June 2010. A fantastic observing run. I did stay at the mountain the maximum possible time (14 days). My runs were distributed over that period. There was another scientist observing with the VLTI. For technical reasons I was asked to swap some nights with him. Then I had to stand by good observing conditions during his new (my old) nights and then to sit around because my new nights were really poor:). Well, life of an observer:) I think the biggest problem is that if the conditions are bad enough that the telescopes are closed the whole night, after four or five hours of chatting with astronomers there is not much to do (now I do know all the observatories at the pictures - Prague is in the right lower corner:))

At the platform (everybody has to have a picture at the platform:) and since the last 'photo-shoot' in 2009 was not that successful...(please see below) I had to try again - observing run in June 2010.

Another picture at the platform, but this time it was the end of their summer (March) so it was much warmer (well the picture is also taken after lunch) - observing run in March 2009. Just a little remark: I did ask one of the engineers (I would say approximately between 25 to 30 years old) if he would be so kind and take a picture of me. He did take many pictures, but neither of them was really useful. This one is not a good one, but it is definitely the best one (please see here ).

Atacama Desert, Chile - observing run in June 2010. When I sit in the cafeteria at Paranal looking outside it feels like in a glass cube. I feel I am on Mars and I try to imagine all the windows suddenly shatter and eyes of all the people just pop-up due to the lack of oxygen (like in Total Recall:)... In my defense, if you are at the observatory 14 days and there is accidentally nobody you know and you could speak with, your room has just a small window, you have breakfast, lunch alone, a lot of strange things come to your mind:)

Checking OBs - observing run in June 2010. As you can see, bottles of water are everywhere. The humidity is very low (great for observing).

Vina del Mar, Chile in March 2009

Vina del Mar, Chile in March 2009

With Andreas, Zazrlat and Andy. Conference in Roskof, France in May 2013 (picture from Andreas). We are trying to reproduce a photo of Sylvie and her colleagues in case we get very famous in the future:). They did write a famous book together and when they met for the first time and decided to do it, they took a similar photo. I do not remember what they were looking at (and why), we are looking at Andy's wallet.

Conference in Roskof, France in May 2013 (picture from Andreas). Shortly after the famous photo was taken.

Conference dinner in Roskof, France in May 2013 (picture from Andreas).