This week, our group traveled to Chiang Mai to use the 2.4-meter Thai National Telescope near Doi Inthanon for student projects. Although I’ve visited the telescope many times before, this was my first time actually operating it for observations—and spending both nights up at the observatory.

The first night was uneventful due to persistent cloud cover. Fortunately, the second night was nearly perfect. Despite a few clouds, we managed to collect as much data as possible. I also took a moment to capture some night sky photos of the Milky Way next to the telescope.

Overall, it was a fun and refreshing experience to spend the night observing again—something I used to do often during my PhD. That said, I’m starting to wonder if I can still pull all-nighters like I used to!