Guillermo Barro and Pablo G. Pérez-González have travelled to the Observatory of the Institut de Radio Astronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) in Pico Veleta (Granada, Spain) to carry out observations of distant star-forming galaxies at radio wavelengths (1.2 mm) using the MAMBO2 instrument on the 30 meter telescope.

Although it is possible to observe astronomical objects during the day at radio wavelengths, Guillermo and Pablo are only using the telescope at night because the observatory staff is installing a new instrument (EMIR) at daytime.

Given that Pico Veleta is completely covered by snow at this time of the year, the UCM astronomers had to travel to the mountain (3000 m high) with an special snow transport. They will stay there for an entire week and then return home to analyze the data and learn about the formation of galaxies in the young Universe.

Guillermo and Pablo are helping with the so-called "pooled"-observations for one week at Pico Veleta, which means that they are taking astronomical data for several research projects led by scientists all around the world and approved by IRAM for this semester, including their own. Astronomers from each approved project travel to the observatory for one week and take data for the rest.

The project led by the GUAIX members is focused on the detection of the emission from cold dust (at a temperature around 20 K, or -253 C) in massive star-forming galaxies at z>1. This cold dust emits at radio wavelengths and its radiation can only be detected by large radio telescopes such as the IRAM 30 meter antenna. Its study is crucial to understand how galaxies formed, and when the elements that are essential for life (such as carbon) appeared in the Universe.