Download PDFIt's 12:30 a.m., and I'm watching a tiny green laser trace the outline of an 800-year-old Mayan pyramidâ€"up and down, up and down. We have already been on site scanning for a couple of hours and have a couple of more to go. It's our first night shift of the project, and it has already been quite eventful. The night started with a sudden need to perform electrical triage on the power cable when frayed wires around the connection socket detached. Using a Leatherman and a headlamp, we spliced the wires and attached a new socket to the cord, giving us the power we needed for the scanner.
Once the scanner was up and running, we experienced how difficult it can be to locate targets by moonlight. Using a combination of course scans and flashlights, we tied our scanner into our control. Now everything is going smoothly. The scanner is working away, collecting millions of points, and we are free to take in the beauty of the site at midnight.
Even in darkness, the pyramid cuts an impressive shape. It rises above the flat plain and dominates other nearby temples. The site is incredibly still and peaceful, a complete 180 degrees from what it's like at noon, when tourists from Cancun arrive to take in the famous pyramid. But now it's just our team, the scanner, and the impressive monuments rising into the clear, expansive sky. As I look up, I am reminded that the night sky is what really brought our team to this site, Chitzén Itza. These great monuments now being traced by the laser were built by the Maya to aid in their study of the sky, and these great structures formed the reason for CyArk's trip to the Yucatan in eastern Mexico.
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