He had only been familiarizing himself with the Front End for a couple of days when he dropped a piece of candy inside. “I couldn’t even eat lunch that day,” he recalls of that frightening moment. Fortunately, with the help of his colleagues, he learned that it wasn’t serious. The intruder could be removed.
These were his first steps in the construction of what would become the world’s largest radio telescope. It was a dream for Francisco: “Ever since I can remember I wanted to work at an observatory”.
He also has anecdotes that make him laugh, such as the day his colleagues wrapped him in alusa paper to hand him over to the other shift.
And when it comes to events that marked ALMA, Francisco starts by recalling its inauguration in March 2013: “At that time we stopped calling ourselves ‘ALMA Project’. Political and scientific figures visited us, which was a very important step in astronomy. Little by little, the observations began to provide us with innovative images and knowledge,” he says.
Another iconic moment he mentions: the first image of the supermassive black hole and its shadow in Messier 87 (M87), captured together with 7 other radio telescopes and the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). “It was a worldwide milestone in the science of astronomy, since that ‘shadow’ had been predicted by Einstein’s general relativity and there was no record of it”, specifies Francisco.
It is impossible not to remember the people who left their mark. “ALMA in itself is your second family and one creates strong bonds. Colleagues who now work in other places, and those who left their memories in this life, such as René Durán and Ernesto Durán”.
A decade making a difference
For Francisco, the presence of the world’s largest radio telescope is not only geographic, but also a factor that has led to an increase in the demand for careers related to the area in Chile. “ALMA has managed to establish collective goals that drive us to achieve our objectives. This speaks of the commitment of all the staff to obtain excellent science”.
During these 12 years, Francisco Pino has specialized in cryogenics. For him, this observatory located on the Chajnantor plateau is a place that opens up the possibility of researching and connecting not only with the Universe, but also with one’s own knowledge. “At ALMA I discovered that science is my path and it is what I want to do for the rest of my life”, he concludes.
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No contaste las mejores anecdotas Pancho jajaja…
Grande crack!!!!!!