About Galvarino

Since childhood I have been interested in the universe. As I scan the sky through my first telescope, my enthusiasm increases, further fueled by the launch of the Voyagers and the first Space Shuttles. With the start of my higher studies, this hobby fades away.

Shortly after I get married, I decide to restart my activities as an amateur astronomer. I buy a heavy 10-inch wheeled telescope and specialize in observing stars whose brightness varies over time. I would like a permanent observatory and am looking for a suitable name. I find inspiration in the list of minor planets where the name of the asteroid with the number of the then year is 1992 Galvarino. It has been discovered when I was 3 years and 4 days old.

This name immediately and unconsciously appeals to me. I even manage to attach a meaningful acronym: “Grange for ALL my VARIable ‘N‘ other Observations”. Later I find with surprise that the first 3 letters match my initials referring to my ancestors. They stand for “Gustaaf”, my father’s father, then “Albert”, my mother’s father, finally “Luc”, my father. That can’t be a coincidence ! Meanwhile, my love of variation in life has extended far beyond studying variable stars. I never visit the same restaurant twice. I never travel to the same location. I have never been in the same job for a long time.

And all the companies and organizations I worked for or committed to don’t look the same after I’ve “passed over”. It turns out that I possess the silent power of the neutrino, an elementary particle with perhaps not coincidentally the same suffix as Galvarino. When the neutrino was discovered, they didn’t really understand it. Though discreet and modest and not easily detectable, it has since become apparent it plays a fundamental role in the universe. Neutrinos have a profound impact on the large-scale structure formation in the universe and play a crucial role in the explosion mechanism of supernovae.

In this way, Galvarino has become more and more my alter ego and I have become more immersed in it. The minor planet was named after the indigenous warrior Galvarino, the heroic figure during the Arauco War, a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people of the 16th century in what is now Chile. Because he opposed the invading Spanish authority he was condemned to have his hands cut off and then to be freed as a living lesson to other Indians. Cruelty is time invariant.