Astronomy in Chile - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chile can be considered the capital of Astronomy in the world, nowadays (2011) it gathers 42% of Astronomy Infrastructure and by 2018 will concentrate the 70% of the global infrastructure of telescopes. In the north of the country, the skies are clean and dry for more than 300 days a year. These optimal conditions have led the scientific world to develop the most ambitious astronomical projects in history of man kind, in the Atacama desert.

Chile, also has diverse and active astronomical community that includes Chilean and international professional such: astronomers, engineers, students, teachers and amateurs.

Professional astronomy

Center for Excellence in Astrophysics and Associated Technologies, CATA Spanish & English

CATA is the largest Chilean project of R&D in astronomy’s technologies. It’s located in Calán Hill (Cerro Calán), in Santiago, Chile. This center brings together the largest amount of astronomers in Chile from three universities: Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Concepción.
CATA develop nine different areas: 6 focused in scientific research, 3 focused on technology advances, and 1 of Education & Outreach (to students, teachers and general public).

Millennium Center for Supernova Science Spanish & English

This Center its mainly dedicated to supernovae research, it gathers astronomers from: Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad Andrés Bello.

Center of Astrophysics FONDAP Spanish

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Northern Chile

Astronomy Group, University of La Serena
Program in Physics mention in Astronomy, Universidad Católica del Norte

Central Chile

Astronomy Department, Universidad de Chile (Spanish & English)
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Universidad Católica de Chile.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Valparaíso
Departamento de Astronomía Universidad Andrés Bello. (Spanish)
Group of Earth and Space Science, University of Santiago
University of Santiago
University of Santiago can refer to:* University of Santiago de Cuba* Universidad de Santiago de Chile in Chile* University of Santiago de Compostela, in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia...

.

Southern Chile

Astronomy Department, Universidad de Concepción. (Spanish and English)

Amateur astronomy

Cerro Los Condores Observatory (Atacama Region)
Cerro Mayu Observatory (Coquimbo Region)
Cerro Mamalluca Observatory (Coquimbo Region)
Cerro Collowara Observatory (Coquimbo Region)
Astronomical Society of Valparaiso and Viña (SAVAL) (Valparaiso Region)
Department of Astronomy (RASTRO), University of Concepcion (Bio-Bio Region)
Chilean Association of Astronomy and Astronautics (ACHAYA) (Metropolitan Region)
Metropolitan Amateur Astronomical Society (Metropolitan Region)

International astronomical institutions in Chile

Carnegie Observatories
European Southern Observatory (ESO)
National Optical Astronomical Observatories [NOAO], USA)
National Radioastronomical Observatories (NRAO, USA)

Existing facilities

Chilean National Astronomical Observatory (Spanish)
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory is a complex of astronomical telescopes and instruments located at 30.169 S, 70.804 W, approximately 80 km to the East of La Serena, Chile at an altitude of 2200 metres. The complex is part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory along with Kitt...

: NOAO telescopes, SMART consortium, GONG, PROMPT, ALPACA.
Cerro Pachon Observatory: Gemini Observatory
Gemini Observatory
The Gemini Observatory is an astronomical observatory consisting of two telescopes at sites in Hawai‘i and Chile. Together, the twin Gemini telescopes provide almost complete coverage of both the northern and southern skies...

, SOAR Telescope
SOAR telescope
The Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope is a modern 4.1-meter-aperture optical and near-infrared telescope located on Cerro Pachón, Chile at 2,738 meters elevation...

.
Llano de Chajnantor Observatory
Llano de Chajnantor Observatory
Llano de Chajnantor Observatory is an astronomical observatory located at an altitude of 5,104 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, 50 kilometers to the east of San Pedro de Atacama. It is a very dry site - inhospitable to humans - but an excellent site for submillimetre astronomy...

: Cosmic Background Imager
Cosmic Background Imager
The Cosmic Background Imager was a 13-element interferometer perched at an elevation of 5,080 metres at Llano de Chajnantor Observatory in the Chilean Andes...

(CBI), Atacama Pathfinder Experiment
Atacama Pathfinder Experiment
The Atacama Pathfinder Experiment is a radio telescope located at 5,100 meters above sea level, at the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory in the Atacama desert, in northern Chile, 50 kilometers to the east of San Pedro de Atacama. The main dish has a diameter of 12 meters and consists of 264...

(APEX), Q/U Imaging ExperimenT QUIET
QUIET
QUIET is an astronomy experiment to study the polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation. QUIET stands for Q/U Imaging ExperimenT. The Q/U in the name refers to the ability of the telescope to measure the Q and U Stokes parameters simultaneously...

,
Pampa La Bola and Purico Complex
Purico Complex
The Purico Complex is a pyroclastic shield located in the eastern part of the Atacama desert in Chile's II Region , approximately south of the Bolivia - Chile border...

: Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment
Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment
The Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment is a 10m antenna built by Mitsubishi Electric as a preprototype for ALMA.The ASTE was deployed to its site on Pampa La Bola, near Cerro Chajnantor and the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory in northern Chile. The antenna shows excellent performance...

(ASTE), NANTEN2 Observatory
NANTEN2 Observatory
The NANTEN2 Observatory is a southern sky observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is located at an altitude of on Pampa la Bola next to Cerro Chajnantor. The observatory is equipped with a millimeter and submillimeter wave telescope that is used for southern sky observations of...
Paranal Observatory: Very Large Telescope (VLT), Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA Telescope
VISTA (telescope)
The VISTA is a reflecting telescope with a 4.1 metre mirror, located at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. It is operated by the European Southern Observatory and saw first light in December 2009...

).
Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)
La Silla Observatory: ESO telescopes,
Las Campanas Observatory: Carnegie telescopes, Magellan telescopes
Magellan telescopes
The Magellan Telescopes are a pair of 6.5 m diameter optical telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The two telescopes are named after the astronomer Walter Baade and the philanthropist Landon T...

, Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network
Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network
The Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network consists of a network of six remote solar observatories monitoring low-degree solar oscillation modes. It is operated by the High Resolution Optical Spectroscopy group of the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, UK, in...
Cerro El Roble Observatory
Manuel Foster Observatory
TIGO (Transportable Integrated Geodetic Observatory)

Future facilities

Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) to be located at Las Campanas Observatory.
European Extremely Large Telescope: not confirmed location.
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) to be located in Cerro Pachon Observatory (El Peñón).
Overwhelmingly Large Telescope
Overwhelmingly Large Telescope
The Overwhelmingly Large Telescope is a conceptual design by the European Southern Observatory organization for an extremely large telescope, which was intended to have a single aperture of 100 meters in diameter...

: not confirmed location. Potential sites in Chile are located in Antofagasta region.

Further information on Extremely large telescope

Extremely large telescope

An extremely large telescope is an astronomical observatory featuring a telescope with an aperture of more than 20 m diameter when discussing reflecting telescopes of optical wavelengths including ultraviolet , visible, and near infrared wavelengths. Among many planned capabilities, ELTs are...

Light pollution

Light Pollution Office (OPCC): depends on the Comision Nacional de Medio Ambiente (CONAMA) and the international observatories.
IDA-Chile: National section of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).

Undergraduate programs

Astronomy Bachelor (Universidad de Chile)
Astronomy Bachelor (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)
Astronomy Bachelor (Universidad de Concepcion)
Bachelor in Phyiscs, mention in Astronomy (Universidad de Valparaíso)
Bachelor in Physics with mention in Astronomy (Universidad Andrés Bello)
Bachelor in Phyiscs, mention in Astronomy (Universidad de la Serena)
Bachelor in Phyiscs, mention in Astronomy (Universidad Católica del Norte)

Graduate programs

Master in Astronomy (Universidad de Chile)
Ph.D. in Astronomy (Universidad de Chile)
Master in Astronomy (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)
Ph.D in Astronomy (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)
Master in Astronomy (Universidad de Concepción)
Ph.D. in Astronomy (Universidad de Concepción)

School programs

CADIAS
Education and Outreach. Astronomy Department, University of Concepcion.

In Chile

In Chile are more than 100 astronomers, some of the most important are:

Mario Hamuy
Mario Hamuy
Mario Hamuy is a Chilean Astronomer and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Chile and Cerro Calan Observatory. He is well known for his observational work on all classes of supernovae, especially the use of Type Ia and Type II supernovae as measures of cosmic distance. He was a student in...

(Universidad de Chile). Main Research Areas: Supernovae, Distance Scale, Observational Cosmology. Main Awards: Guggenheim Scholarship (2011) Hamuy is the second most cited scientist in Chile, and the most cited Chilean astronomer according to is SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System. (Until June 2011)
José Maza (Universidad de Chile). Main Research Area: Supernovae. Main Award: National Prize for Exact Sciences (1999)
María Teresa Ruiz (Universidad de Chile): Main Research Area: Brown Dwarfs. Main Award: National Prize for Exact Sciences (1997)
Guido Garay (Universidad de Chile) Main Research Area: Star Formation
Luis Barrera, (UMCE)
Leonardo Bronfman, (Universidad de Chile) Main Research Areas: Molecular Clouds, Star Formation & Galactic and Structure, Astronomical Instrumentation
Alejandro Clocchiatti (Universidad Católica) Main Research Areas: Supernova and High Performance Astronomical Computing
Leopoldo Infante, (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) Main Research Areas: Birth & Evolution of Structures in the Universe, Star Populations.
Dante Minitti (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) Main Research Area: Birth & Evolution of Structures in the Universe
Douglas Geisler (Universidad de Concepción)
Wolfgang Gieren (Universidad de Concepción)
Marcelo Mora, (U. Valparaiso)
Ramirez, Amelia (U. La Serena): dynamics and evolution of galaxies, galaxy groups and clusters.

Amateur astronomers and teachers

Gomez, Arturo: discoverer of the Gomez's Hamburger
Gomez's Hamburger
Gomez's Hamburger is believed to be a young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk. It was initially identified as a protoplanetary nebula , and its distance therefore wrongly estimated to be approximately 6500 light-years away from planet Earth...

, a protoplanetary disk around a young low mass star.
Jimenez, Carmen Gloria: teacher and psychologist working as Educational and Outreach Expert for the Astronomy Department of the Universidad de Concepcion. She is widely known for participating in the NASA's program "Teachers in Space" with chances to visit the International Space Station or participate as ground-based support for space missions of teachers.
Picetti, Battista: physics and astronomy teacher in the Seminario Conciliar de La Serena. He won the Michael Faraday Award for the Best Physics Teacher in 2007. Father Picetti is also the creator of El Tololito (La Serena) and Cerro Mayu Observatory

Planetariums

Planetarium of the Universidad de Santiago (Santiago)
Gemini's Mobible Planetariums (La Serena)

Publications and books

Supernovas, José Maza, Mario Hamuy.
Hijos de las estrellas, Maria Ruiz. ISBN 9789563040371
Astronomía Contemporánea, José Maza
Mundos lejanos, Dante Minniti.
Con ojos de gigantes: la observación astronómica en el siglo XXI, L. Felipe Barrientos y Sebastian Lopez, Ediciones B. 2008

Astrotourism

- Site for astro-tourism in Chile http://www.turismoastronomico.cl/

Astronomy in the media and news sites

Circulo Astronomico
Chile_trip Yahoo! Group extensive collection of astronomy & travel resources in Chile
thisisChile.cl - Chile Official Website - Astronomy in Chile

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