Chile is known as the World Capital of Astronomy because it concentrates more than half of the astronomical capacity of the planet. Thanks to the incredible telescopes located in northern Chile, it is said that our country is the eyes of the world to the Universe with which great researchers are observing and answering the questions of the future. Here are 10 telescopes in Chile that will surprise you:
ALMA
In October 2011, the ALMA observatory opened its doors to astronomers from all over the world. That same month the first image captured with the telescopes of the complex was revealed, even when it was still under construction. ALMA is not just any telescope, but the largest astronomical project in the world.
With 66 antennas to observe millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA has higher precision in its observations compared to other observatories in the world. The images from each antenna are combined with those from the other instruments, which provides higher resolution and therefore unique possibilities for the observation of astronomical phenomena hundreds of light years away. Its name is actually an acronym for Atacama Large Milimiter/submillimeter Array and its Spanish name is Gran Conjunto Milimétrico/submilimétrico de Atacama. Located in the middle of the Atacama Desert, specifically in the Chajnantor plain at more than five thousand meters above sea level, it is actually a project carried out thanks to the collaboration of Europe, North America, East Asia and the Republic of Chile.
EXTREMELY LARGE TELESCOPE
The Extremely Large Telescope or ELT from European Southern Observatory or European Southern Observatory (ESO) will be the world's largest visible-light and infrared telescope: the world's largest eye to look at the sky. It is being built in the Antofagasta Region, on the summit of Armazones Hill. It should begin operating by the end of 2027 and will allow observation of what has never before been explored by mankind in space research. The works of the ELT's so-called "major civil works" are already 40% complete. It consists of a huge optical-infrared window telescope whose 40-meter main mirror will be composed of 798 hexagonal segments -like a honeycomb-, and will allow direct observations of planets like our own orbiting distant stars, among other wonders yet to be imagined. In addition to its unprecedented size, the ELT will be equipped with a line of state-of-the-art instruments designed to cover a wide range of scientific possibilities. The leap forward with the ELT may lead to a paradigm shift in our perception of the Universe, just as Galileo's telescope did 400 years ago.
PARANAL
The Paranal Observatory is an optical astronomical observatory operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO).European Southern Observatory - ESO ESO) located in the commune of Taltal, on Cerro Paranal, in the Atacama Desert. It is composed of 4 telescopes It is composed of 4 telescopes that together are combined using interferometry, has been instrumental among other things in the investigation of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, which gave the Nobel Prize in physics to Reinhard Genzel. Today it houses the most accurate ground-based instrument for the search and study of extrasolar planets.
THE BELLS
The Las Campanas Observatory is part of the Carnegie Observatories and its astronomers wanted, for a long time, to install an observing station in the Southern Hemisphere that would give them access to the Magellanic Clouds and the center of the Milky Way. Thus it was that this observatory, located high in the mountains of the Atacama Desert, was established in 1969. It became home to the 1 and 2.5 meter reflecting telescopes, which came into operation in 1971 and 1977 respectively. The most recent additions were the Magellan twin telescopes, 6.5-meter reflectors, and prominent members of what was the last generation of giant telescopes. The Magellan twins are part of the experiment with the greatest impact on modern astronomy, since its fifth stage, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which has laid the foundations of big data in this science and has been the precursor of instruments such as the Vera Rubin Observatory, soon to be inaugurated in the Coquimbo Region.
GIANT MAGELLAN TELESCOPE
The Giant Magellan Telescope or GMT is the most advanced ground-based telescope that engineering has ever created. It has 19 million times the light-gathering power of the human eye. It will produce images sharp enough to distinguish the details of a coin nearly 100 miles away.
It is under construction in the mountains of the Atacama Desert in Chile, one of the best places on the planet to explore space, and is the work of an international consortium of world-leading universities and research institutions. It was designed to push the boundaries of human knowledge and discover the unknown. With unparalleled image quality and seven of the world's largest mirrors, it will allow us to explore the universe as never before; find Earth-like planets; study their atmospheres and search for signs of life. With it we will be able to investigate the cosmic origins of chemical elements, discover the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. As well as going back in cosmic time to explore the formation of the first stars, galaxies and black holes.
THE CHAIR
The La Silla Observatory continues to be at the forefront of astronomy with nearly 300 publications per year with citations attributable to its work. La Silla has provided an enormous number of scientific discoveries, including several firsts: the HARPS spectrograph is the leading discoverer of low-mass extrasolar planets. It detected the system around Gliese 581, which contains what may be the first known rocky planet in a habitable zone outside the Solar System Many telescopes at La Silla played a crucial role in linking gamma-ray bursts - the most energetic explosions in the Universe since the Big Bang - to the explosions of massive stars. It is located in the southern part of the Atacama Desert at an altitude of 2,400 meters and is comprised of a network of 18 telescopes It is composed of a network of 18 telescopes and instruments such as an extrasolar planet finder, and also housed ESO's first telescope in Chile.
TOLOLO HILL
The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is one of the longest operating telescope complexes in Chile, and for decades was recognized as one of the most important in the southern hemisphere. Located at an altitude of 2,200 meters on the hill that bears its name, this observatory that crowns the Elqui Valley was the first to join the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), thus being the first international scientific astronomical project developed in the country. It currently has the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a high-performance, wide-field CCD camera built to carry out the Dark Energy Survey (DES), a scientific project led by the Office of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Observatory's instruments and facilities are operated and shared by astronomers from both hemispheres. Each year more than 100 visiting scientists and students from 50 or more institutions travel to Cerro Tololo to conduct research programs.
SOUTH GEMINI
The Gemini International Observatory is actually twin 8.1-meter optical and infrared telescopes located in two of the best places on the planet for astronomical observation. With its brother located on Maunakea Island (Hawai'i), Gemini South is located 2,700 meters above sea level, taking advantage of the privileged conditions of the Coquimbo Region to observe the southern hemisphere sky. From its complete automation, to its optimization for observation through infrared imaging and adaptive optics system, this observatory has features that make it unique among its kind, is the first astronomical mega-project globally, opening in the nineties a new stage of global astronomy. By incorporating technologies such as laser guide star adaptive optics and multi-object spectroscopy, astronomers in the Gemini partnership explore the Universe in unprecedented depth and detail.
VERA C. RUBIN
100 km from the city of La Serena, on Cerro Pachón, is located the Vera C. Rubin Vera C. Rubina modern observatory that every three nights captures complete images of the sky, thus performing a pioneering synoptic survey that could contribute to the exploration of the universe. Tt will have the world's largest camera, a 3,200 megapixel digital device that will allow the collection of unprecedented volumes of information in the study of the heavens, capturing the entire visible sky. Every night, nearly 10 million objects will be observed, which will be reflected in the more than 20 terabytes of content that will be generated. In addition, the photographs taken will be in 3D, providing a unique view of the universe. The initial idea is that from its inauguration, this observatory will carry out an optical survey for 10 years, which will have four main axes: probing of dark energy and dark matter, inventory of the Solar System, exploration of the transient optical sky and mapping of the Milky Way. It has the particularity of having committed to make public all the information it obtains.
CERRO CALÁN
With more than 150 years of operation, the National Astronomical Observatory, or Cerro Calán Observatory, has been in operation for over 150 years., is one of the oldest astronomical observation centers in our country. Administered by the Department of Astronomy of the Universidad de Chile, it is located only 867 meters above sea level, and is used for teaching and research activities, as well as weekly cycles of night visits for the general public, in order to disseminate astronomy and science to the population.
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