Earlier this year, our team was awarded six nights of observing time with the Thai National Telescope at Doi Inthanon. I joined the observing run for four of the six nights, while the students stayed for the entire program. Using the Low Resolution Spectrograph (LRS), we focused on observing brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in galaxy clusters that could potentially be spiral galaxies, an unusual and intriguing possibility since BCGs are typically giant elliptical systems.

Although the weather during the first night was not ideal, conditions improved significantly afterward and we were able to observe for the remainder of the run. Spending multiple nights at the observatory was both exciting and rewarding, especially seeing the students gain hands-on experience with telescope operations and spectroscopic observations. Long observing runs are always a mix of patience, problem solving, and moments of excitement when good data finally start coming in, and this trip was no exception.