Working in an observatory is my dream jobs but there are times when that dream can become a nightmare.
Just recently we were on the verge of getting a real breakthrough with some work when I got a call from my mother of all people. Usually you hear news that effects years worth of work from someone sitting in an office but no, my Mother is the one that tells me about a huge ash cloud.
It took a while to get through the usual ’Mum Chat’ about my sister and her amazing new sofa but we eventually got there. Our work with the Italian Observatory in Salernitan was about to get ruined due to a gigantic volcanic ash cloud.
While most people might moan about a delayed flight we had to face the fact that years of work worth thousands in international exploratation was about to go down the drain.
To be honest it is still quite hard to come to terms with but thankfully some of our work could be salvaged and has in turn led to new developments in a totally different sphere so hopefully we will have a bit more luck with this attemt and have some exciting news in the future.
