1- Present yourself : who you are + describe your job
Hi, I'm Yara Jaffé. I am a Venezuelan astronomer currently based in Chile.
I work at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), where my time is split in half between pure research, and duties as support astronomer at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Paranal Observatory. In Paranal I operate the cool telescope with the lasers (Yepun) that also hosts the latest-generation wide-field integral field spectrograph MUSE.
Research-wise, I am mostly interested in understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies as a function of cosmic time and environment. In particular, recently I've been mostly studying the so-called "jellyfish" galaxies, whose beautiful tentacles of stripped material tell us a story of cosmic migration. Basically what happens is that, due to gravitational attraction, galaxies migrate from empty regions of the Universe towards massive galaxy clusters. Recent observations and simulations seem to indicate that when a normal spiral galaxy enters a cluster, it encounters the hot and aggressive intra-cluster medium, which is able to strip away the galaxy's fuel for star formation (cold gas) via pressure. The result is a deformed spiral galaxy with long tails of stripped gas and newly formed stars that resembles a sea jellyfish.
2- Can you explain your study + professional paths?
When I was in high/school I was not sure what to study. Many things interested me. I was between maths, physics, philosophy, arts, and international studies. I ended up studying physics at Universidad Simón Bolívar (Caracas), as that could then allow me to study the entire Universe. After 4 years of courses, I moved to Mérida in the Venezuelan Andes to do a thesis in astronomy. For my thesis I used observations of RR Lyrae stars to look for galaxies cannibalized by the Milky Way (Galactic archaeology), and constrain the shape of the Galaxy's dark matter halo. During that time I also worked as a support astronomer at the small national observatory run by Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomia (CIDA).
Although I loved studying our own galaxy, I wanted to move on to study the vast zoo of galaxies in the distant Universe.
After defending my undergraduate thesis I was advised to do an internship at Goddard Space Flight Centre (NASA), where I worked on mass outflows and fueling flows of Seyfert galaxies. After that, I moved to England to start a PhD on "the formation and evolution of galaxies as a function of environment" at the University of Nottingham. I got to work with data of hundreds of distant galaxies in clusters, trying to understand their evolutionary paths using statistics. It was a different approach to my previous research: less detail but bigger numbers. For my second year I went to the ESO headquarters in Germany to collaborate with researchers there. Then I went back to Nottingham to finish up the papers I had been working on and write my thesis. At the time, my (now) husband had taken up a job in Exeter (south England), so I moved there to finish writing the book. The astronomy department there kindly hosted me.
Before defending my PhD I got an offer to work as a postdoc in Padova (Italy). I spent there a year, learning about the gas content of galaxies, Italian, and the food culture. My main scientific output were a series of papers revealing the correlation between gas deficiency and galaxy environment.
Overall, I enjoyed my time in Europe greatly, but I felt it was time to go back to Latin America. I could not go back to Venezuela due to political reasons (I did try), so me and my husband tried our luck in Chile, where we still are. I first got a Fellowship to do independent research in Concepcion, and now I'm in Santiago working at ESO as a Fellow. In Concepcion I became an independent research, and I lead several studies that used new approaches to study gas stripping processes in galaxy clusters.
Now, at ESO, I've taken it a step further. I am now part of a large program that is obtaining exquisite data with MUSE of hundreds of stripped (jellyfish) galaxies in the nearby Universe.
Although I like the observatory work, I hope my next step will be towards a permanent position in a University here in Chile.
3- How long have you been working in an observatory?
A year and a half.
4- Pros and Cons (Likes/Dislikes) of your life in an observatory?
I like being in the desert, its very peaceful up there. Sometimes you feel on top of the world. Professionally, since I started working at ESO I've learned A LOT about science, instruments, and people. In particular I feel that the exposure to different instruments, observing modes, and science visitors from all over the world have helped me become a more well-rounded astronomer.
I've to confess however that, at the beginning, working at the observatory was hard for me. I came from a very different background so I had to learn many new things. At the same time, I felt completely overwhelmed by the observatory life and the nightly routines. And last but not least, I was not used to working among so many men in such a different and isolated environment. So far my career had been in Universities, where, although women are underrepresented, I never felt dramatically different. But after a year and a half working at the observatory I can say I that I feel at ease with my duties, and I got used to the routine and the sometimes unwanted attention. I guess I'm an adaptable creature.
5- What is the funniest thing that has happened to you at the observatory?
6- What is the scariest thing that has happened to you at the observatory?
Here are 2 stories. I think they are both somewhere in between scary and funny.
The first time I went to Paranal as a visiting astronomer I was overwhelmed by the power of dryness. I was sleeping with a fleece on at night with all the curtains in place in complete darkness. Suddenly I got woken up by a sound. It was the sound of electricity: tak tak.
I opened my eyes and I could see a sort of illuminated aurora covering my bed. I freaked out not knowing what it was. After about 5 minutes (that felt like 30) I realized that what I was hearing and seeing was a result of the static caused by the extreme dryness.
More recently, during my last shift at the observatory, a spider fell on my head and I thought it was a scorpion --I've an irrational fear of scorpions since my brother used to grow them at home when we were little. I've been stung by them on 2 occasions!. This one however ended up being a harmless but freaky-looking spider.
7- When was a time that you weren't sure if you could do something, but you did it?
For the first 6 months at the observatory I felt I lacked the knowledge and skills to smoothly run scientific operations at the VLT, but I had to and I did.
8- What advice would you give to someone interested in working at an observatory?
Anything specifically if they are a woman?
Anything specifically if they are a woman?
Try to be yourself as much as possible.
Do not try to be more like a man to be respected.
Do not lose your humanity.
9- What do you do for fun at the observatory?
Have night swims, walk in the desert in random directions, paint, knit, do yoga, watch movies, read books, and hang out with friends.
10- What do you do for fun when you're *not* at the observatory?
Mostly exploring Chile, I really like the mountains and all the mountain things you can do here (especially in the south). I also have a lot of family and friends in Chile so we gather a lot to eat, drink and be loud. My husband works in Valparaiso so I spend a lot of time there. I love the sea.
