Dan Kaiser and Albert Holm, members of the American Association of Variable Star Observers, at the François-Xavier Bagnoud Observatory above the village of Saint-Luc in Valais, Switzerland. At this time Albert was serving as president of the organization.
The observatory was established in 1995 in memory of a Swiss helicopter pilot who died at age 24 after participating in 300 rescue missions. At an altitude of 7,200 feet, the observatory is open to the public as well as reseach scientists. Following our visit to the observatory, we were treated to a banquet of Swiss specialties at the Saint-Luc village.
Three days later, we visited the Gornergrat Hotel and Observatory at 10,240 feet. That visit gave us a good view of the Matterhorn, as seen at the bottom of this page.
Dust and/or other blemishes have not been removed from this version of the image.