Chile - the country of astronomical observatories and the largest telescopes in the world

Mankind needs powerful telescopes and modern observatories to observe outer space. With their help, you can look beyond the boundaries of the solar system and plunge into the mysterious world of the universe. As a rule, each country places them within its territory in the most suitable places for this. But there are exceptions to this rule when countries have powerful modern laboratories very far from their borders. And the most popular place to host such facilities is Chile.

Chile, a small state that stretches along the Pacific coast, has the largest number of observatories in the world. The largest telescopes owned by the USA and the EU are located here, and the sites of the grandiose telescopes under construction today are also located in Chile. But what is so attractive in this South American country that everyone is in a hurry to place their observatories here?

The answer is simple - Atacama Desert. This desert is the driest place on the planet, which means that there are practically no days with precipitation, and therefore cloudy days with poor visibility. If such troubles happen, it is extremely rare. The second important factor is the quality of the air. Almost dry air, the humidity of which is negligible, does not contain impurities and pollutants from large cities, which are simply not there. In addition, it is from the Southern Hemisphere that you can observe the central parts of the Milky Way, and many other objects that are not visible from observation points located in the Northern Hemisphere. So, what kind of astronomical observatories are located in the Atacama desert and what objects are being built at the moment.

ALMA - Atacama Large Millimeter Array

This is a whole complex of radio telescopes, consisting of 66 antennas. The ALMA complex is the largest and most expensive astronomical object that is currently operating on planet Earth. This is a joint project of the USA, Europe, Brazil, Chile, Japan and Taiwan.

Paranal Observatory

The Paranal Observatory is owned by the European Organization of Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere (European Southern Observatory), of which Brazil and 15 other European countries are members. The observatory is located on top of Mount Cerro Paranal.

La Silla Observatory

This observatory also belongs to the European Southern Observatory and incorporates 18 telescopes. The observatory is located in the southern part of the Atacama Desert at an altitude of 2400 meters.

Las Campanas Observatory

This observatory is located 27 kilometers from La Silla and belongs to the Carnegie Institute (USA). A number of telescopes are already operating here, and in 2020 it is planned to launch the giant Magellanic telescope, the construction of which is already underway.

Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

This observatory, located on top of Sero Pachon Mountain, is under construction and belongs to the United States. An optical telescope with a mirror diameter of more than 8 meters is planned to be launched in 2020-2022.

Extremely Large Telescope

It is also under construction at the European Southern Observatory, which is scheduled to open in 2024. At an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, on the top of Mount Armasones, near the Paranal Observatory, they plan to place a powerful telescope with a mirror diameter of more than 39 meters.

Atacama Desert is a popular tourist attraction. Here is the famous sculpture "Desert Hand" and the most beautiful national parks. Recently, excursions to the observatories located in Atakama have become increasingly popular, in particular, very interesting tours are organized at the ALMA observatory.

Watch the video: World's Biggest Optical Telescope - ELT (May 2024).