I drum my fingers while waiting for my laptop to load the image, excitement mounting as I wonder what I’m about to see. But the thrill of anticipation and discovery stays the same, no matter where on Earth you are. This could be it! A modern radio astronomer does not have to travel to faraway lands to collect the data herself - arguably less romantic. The lure of potential discovery wakes me up more than a pot of coffee ever could. All that remains for me, half a world away in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to do is go online and download it. The subject line reads: “AT 2018xxx 2hr has been completed.” The message tells me that while I was sleeping, MeerKAT observed a target for two hours and, after some initial image processing, the observation is now ready for me in the archives. Bleary-eyed, I check it - and jolt awake upon seeing an automated email from the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
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