1.
Very Large Telescope
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The Very Large Telescope is a telescope facility operated by the European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT consists of four telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 m across. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, the telescopes form an array which is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes of 1.8 m aperture. The VLT operates at visible and infrared wavelengths.001 arc-second and this is equivalent to roughly 2 meters resolution at the distance of the Moon. In single telescope mode of operation angular resolution is about 0.05 arc-second, the VLT is the most productive ground-based facility for astronomy, with only the Hubble Space Telescope generating more scientific papers among facilities operating at visible wavelengths. The VLT consists of an arrangement of four large telescopes with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer, the interferometer also includes a set of four 1.8 meter diameter movable telescopes dedicated to interferometric observations. The first of the UTs started operating in May 1998 and was offered to the community on 1 April 1999. The other telescopes followed suit in 1999 and 2000, thus making the VLT fully operational, four 1. 8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes have been added to the VLTI to make it available when the UTs are being used for other projects. These ATs were installed between 2004 and 2007, today, all four Unit Telescopes and all four Auxiliary Telescopes are operational. The VLTs 8. 2-meter telescopes were designed to operate in three modes, as a set of four independent telescopes. as a single large coherent interferometric instrument. This mode is used, only for observations of relatively bright sources with small angular extent. As a single large incoherent instrument, for extra light-gathering capacity, the instrumentation required to bring the light to a combined incoherent focus was not built. Recently, new proposals have been put forward for making this observing mode available. Multiple telescopes are sometimes independently pointed at the object, either to increase the total light-gathering power. In particular, the VLT has several adaptive optics systems, which correct for the effects of atmospheric turbulence, providing images almost as sharp as if the telescope were in space. In the near-infrared, the adaptive optics images of the VLT are up to three times sharper than those of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the resolution is many times better than Hubble. The VLTs are noted for their level of observing efficiency. The 8.2 m-diameter telescopes are housed in compact, thermally controlled buildings, the principal role of the main VLT telescopes is to operate as four independent telescopes
2.
VLT Survey Telescope
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The VLT Survey Telescope is the latest telescope to be added to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is housed in an immediately adjacent to the four Very Large Telescope Unit Telescopes on the summit of Cerro Paranal. The VST is a survey telescope with a field of view twice as broad as the full Moon. It is the largest telescope in the designed to exclusively survey the sky in visible light. The VST program is a cooperation between the Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy, and the European Southern Observatory that began in 1997, vSTcen was founded and directed by Prof. Massimo Capaccioli of the VST project, and hosted at the OAC. ESO and VSTceN collaborated in the phase, while ESO was responsible for the civil engineering works. The telescope has now started observations and ESO is solely responsible for managing its operations, the VST is an alt-azimuthal wide-field survey telescope with a primary mirror diameter of 2.65 meters that was constructed from 2007–2011 at the ESO Cerro Paranal Observatory, in Chile. Together with its camera OmegaCAM, the VST is able to obtain a high angular resolution, the telescope has two mirrors, the primary and a smaller secondary mirror, which reflect light from the sky down to the OmegaCAM camera. Both mirrors are made from a ceramic material called Sitall. The VST primary mirror is the larger of the two, with a diameter of 265 cm and a thickness of 14 cm, the secondary mirror is less than half the size of M1 with a diameter of just 93.8 cm and a thickness of 13 cm. VSTs original optical components were manufactured at the Lytkarino Glass Factory, a computer-controlled active optics system controls the shape of M1 and the position of M2. This technology preserves the image quality by keeping the mirrors perfectly positioned at all times. M1 is continuously reshaped by a network of 84 axial motors distributed under the mirror surface and 24 radial dislocated laterally. The secondary mirror is controlled by a deformable platform able to tilt the mirror during exposure. The active optics system also includes a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor, mounted under the primary mirror cell together with the guide system. These systems give the VST the capability to be autonomous in terms of guiding, tracking, design features of OmegaCAM include four auxiliary CCD cameras, two for auto-guiding and two for on-line image analysis. Up to 12 filters can be used, ranging from ultraviolet to near-infrared, the entire detector system operates in vacuum at about -140 degrees Celsius behind a large dewar window. This window not only protects the detectors from air and moisture, the primary function of the VST is to support the Very Large Telescope by providing surveys – both extensive, multi-colour imaging surveys and more specific searches for rare astronomical objects
3.
European Southern Observatory
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The European Southern Observatory is a 16-nation intergovernmental research organization for ground-based astronomy. Created in 1962, ESO has provided astronomers with state-of-the-art research facilities, the organisation employs about 730 staff members and receives annual member state contributions of approximately €131 million. Its observatories are located in northern Chile, ESO has built and operated some of the largest and most technologically advanced telescopes. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array observes the universe in the millimetre and submillimetre wavelength ranges and it was completed in March 2013 in an international collaboration by Europe, North America, East Asia and Chile. Currently under construction is the European Extremely Large Telescope and it will use a 39. 3-metre-diameter segmented mirror, and become the worlds largest optical reflecting telescope when operational in 2024. ESOs observing facilities have made discoveries and produced several astronomical catalogues. Its findings include the discovery of the most distant gamma-ray burst, in 2004, the VLT allowed astronomers to obtain the first picture of an extrasolar planet orbiting a brown dwarf 173 light-years away. The idea that European astronomers should establish a large observatory was broached by Walter Baade. It was pursued by Oort, who gathered a group of astronomers in Leiden to consider it on June 21 that year, immediately thereafter, the subject was further discussed at the Groningen conference in the Netherlands. On January 26,1954, an ESO declaration was signed by astronomers from six European countries expressing the wish that a joint European observatory be established in the southern hemisphere. At the time, all reflector telescopes with an aperture of 2 metres or more were located in the northern hemisphere. The decision to build the observatory in the southern hemisphere resulted from the necessity of observing the southern sky, although it was initially planned to set up telescopes in South Africa, tests from 1955 to 1963 demonstrated that a site in the Andes was preferable. On November 15,1963 Chile was chosen as the site for ESOs observatory, the decision was preceded by the ESO Convention, signed 5 October 1962 by Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. Otto Heckmann was nominated as the organisations first director general on 1 November 1962, a preliminary proposal for a convention of astronomy organisations in these five countries was drafted in 1954. Although some amendments were made in the document, the convention proceeded slowly until 1960 when it was discussed during that years committee meeting. The new draft was examined in detail, and a member of CERN highlighted the need for a convention between governments. The convention and government involvement became pressing due to rising costs of site-testing expeditions. The final 1962 version was adopted from the CERN convention
4.
Chile
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Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, Chilean territory includes the Pacific islands of Juan Fernández, Salas y Gómez, Desventuradas, and Easter Island in Oceania. Chile also claims about 1,250,000 square kilometres of Antarctica, the arid Atacama Desert in northern Chile contains great mineral wealth, principally copper. Southern Chile is rich in forests and grazing lands, and features a string of volcanoes and lakes, the southern coast is a labyrinth of fjords, inlets, canals, twisting peninsulas, and islands. Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile. After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic, in the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. The regime, headed by Augusto Pinochet, ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010. Chile is today one of South Americas most stable and prosperous nations and it leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption. It also ranks high regionally in sustainability of the state, Chile is a founding member of the United Nations, the Union of South American Nations and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. There are various theories about the origin of the word Chile, another theory points to the similarity of the valley of the Aconcagua with that of the Casma Valley in Peru, where there was a town and valley named Chili. Another origin attributed to chilli is the onomatopoeic cheele-cheele—the Mapuche imitation of the warble of a locally known as trile. The Spanish conquistadors heard about this name from the Incas, ultimately, Almagro is credited with the universalization of the name Chile, after naming the Mapocho valley as such. The older spelling Chili was in use in English until at least 1900 before switching over to Chile, stone tool evidence indicates humans sporadically frequented the Monte Verde valley area as long as 18,500 years ago. About 10,000 years ago, migrating Native Americans settled in fertile valleys, settlement sites from very early human habitation include Monte Verde, Cueva del Milodon and the Pali Aike Craters lava tube. They fought against the Sapa Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his army, the result of the bloody three-day confrontation known as the Battle of the Maule was that the Inca conquest of the territories of Chile ended at the Maule river. The next Europeans to reach Chile were Diego de Almagro and his band of Spanish conquistadors, the Spanish encountered various cultures that supported themselves principally through slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting. The conquest of Chile began in earnest in 1540 and was carried out by Pedro de Valdivia, one of Francisco Pizarros lieutenants, who founded the city of Santiago on 12 February 1541. Although the Spanish did not find the gold and silver they sought, they recognized the agricultural potential of Chiles central valley
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
Observatory
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An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed, historically, observatories were as simple as containing an astronomical sextant or Stonehenge. Astronomical observatories are mainly divided into four categories, space based, airborne, ground based, ground-based observatories, located on the surface of Earth, are used to make observations in the radio and visible light portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Most optical telescopes are housed within a dome or similar structure, Telescope domes have a slit or other opening in the roof that can be opened during observing, and closed when the telescope is not in use. In most cases, the upper portion of the telescope dome can be rotated to allow the instrument to observe different sections of the night sky. Radio telescopes usually do not have domes, for optical telescopes, most ground-based observatories are located far from major centers of population, to avoid the effects of light pollution. The ideal locations for modern observatories are sites that have dark skies, a percentage of clear nights per year, dry air. At high elevations, the Earths atmosphere is thinner, thereby minimizing the effects of atmospheric turbulence, sites that meet the above criteria for modern observatories include the southwestern United States, Hawaii, Canary Islands, the Andes, and high mountains in Mexico such as Sierra Negra. Major optical observatories include Mauna Kea Observatory and Kitt Peak National Observatory in the USA, Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in Spain, and Paranal Observatory in Chile. Specific research study performed in 2009 shows that the best possible location for ground-based observatory on Earth is Ridge A — a place in the part of Eastern Antarctica. This location provides the least atmospheric disturbances and best visibility, beginning in 1930s, radio telescopes have been built for use in the field of radio astronomy to observe the Universe in the radio portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since the mid-20th century, a number of observatories have been constructed at very high altitudes, above 4. The largest and most notable of these is the Mauna Kea Observatory, the Chacaltaya Astrophysical Observatory in Bolivia, at 5,230 m, was the worlds highest permanent astronomical observatory from the time of its construction during the 1940s until 2009. It has now surpassed by the new University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory. As a result, the resolution of space telescopes such as the Hubble Space Telescope is often much smaller than a ground-based telescope with a similar aperture. However, all these advantages do come with a price, Space telescopes are much more expensive to build than ground-based telescopes. Due to their location, space telescopes are also difficult to maintain. The Hubble Space Telescope was serviced by the Space Shuttle while many other space telescopes cannot be serviced at all, Airborne observatories have the advantage of height over ground installations, putting them above most of the Earths atmosphere
7.
Atacama Desert
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The Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America, covering a 1, 000-kilometre strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains. It is the driest non-polar desert in the world, according to estimates, the Atacama Desert proper occupies 105,000 square kilometres, or 128,000 square kilometres if the barren lower slopes of the Andes are included. Most of the desert is composed of terrain, salt lakes, sand. The National Geographic Society considers the area of southern Peru to be part of the Atacama Desert. Peru borders it on the north and the Chilean Matorral ecoregion borders it on the south, to the east lies the less arid Central Andean dry puna ecoregion. The drier portion of this ecoregion is located south of the Loa River between the parallel Sierra Vicuña Mackenna and Cordillera Domeyko, to the north of the Loa lies the Pampa del Tamarugal. The Coastal Cliff of northern Chile west of the Chilean Coast Range is the topographic feature of the coast. The geomorphology of the Atacama Desert has been characterized as a low-relief bench similar to a giant uplifted terrace by Armijo and co-workers. The intermediate depression forms a series of basins in much of Atacama Desert south of latitude 19°30’ S. North of this latitude the intermediate depression drains into the Pacific Ocean. Although the almost total lack of precipitation is the most prominent characteristic of the Atacama Desert, in 2012, the altiplano winter brought floods to San Pedro de Atacama. On 25 March 2015, heavy rainfall affected the part of the Atacama desert. Resulting floods triggered mudflows that affected the cities of Copiapo, Tierra Amarilla, Chile, Chanaral, the Atacama Desert is commonly known as the driest non-polar place in the world, especially the surroundings of the abandoned Yungay town. The average rainfall is about 15 mm per year, although some locations, such as Arica and Iquique, moreover, some weather stations in the Atacama have never received rain. Periods of up to four years have been registered with no rainfall in the sector, delimited by the cities of Antofagasta, Calama and Copiapó. Evidence suggests that the Atacama may not have had any significant rainfall from 1570 to 1971, the Atacama Desert may be the oldest desert on earth, and has experienced extreme hyperaridity for at least 3 million years, making it the oldest continuously arid region on earth. The long history of aridity raises the possibility that supergene mineralisation, under the conditions, can form in arid environments. This desert is so arid, many mountains higher than 6,000 m are free of glaciers. Only the highest peaks have some permanent snow coverage, the southern part of the desert, between 25 and 27°S, may have been glacier-free throughout the Quaternary, though permafrost extends down to an altitude of 4,400 m and is continuous above 5,600 m
8.
Antofagasta
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Antofagasta is a port city in northern Chile, about 1,100 kilometres north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region, according to the 2012 census, the city has a population of 345,420. The city of Antofagasta is closely linked to mining activity, being a mining area of the country. The last decade has been a growth in the areas of construction, retail, hotel accommodations, population growth. Antofagasta has the highest GDP per capita of Chile,37,000 USD, currently there are several theories to explain the origin of the name Antofagasta. A clear consensus regarding the origin of the word has not yet been determined. It is probably a word that comes from the southern Cacan anto, faya and gasta. However, it says the name Antofagasta is due to a decision by Manuel Mariano Melgarejo, in Chile, Antofagasta is known as La Perla del Norte, for its historical and economic importance. On 18 September 1866, José Santos Ossa and Francisco Puelma achieved the award of the concession of nitrate lands, the exploring of the Chilean miners found rich deposits of saltpeter in the field of Salar del Carmen, to the east of the present Antofagasta. Agreed to form the Sociedad Exploradora del Desierto de Atacama, after the formation of the company, began to fill with what was called La Chimba. On 19 March 1868, the Melbourne Clark Company was established, after the integration of Chilean, after the earthquake in Iquique and Oprah Jiffy of 13 August 1868, it was necessary to give legal recognition to the Chimba as a mining town. On 22 October 1868, the population was established and the port under the name La Chimba. Later the city was renamed Antofagasta, the first official map of the population and the port of Antofagasta was designed by Jose Santos Prada on 14 September 1869. This document set out the grounds of the Melbourne Clark Company, plus 17 blocks, on 8 May 1872, Antofagasta was appointed by the Bolivian Government as Puerto Mayor, open trade worldwide. On 27 November 1873, the Compañía de Salitres y Ferrocarril de Antofagasta signed a contract with the government of Bolivia and this contract was not ratified by the Congress of Bolivia, which was then analyzed negotiations with Chile. In 1873 Bolivia signed a treaty of defensive alliance with Peru. This would be used as an argument 5 years later in Chile, the secret alliance, forbade Bolivia from signing a border treaty with Chile, without consulting with Peru. However, in 1874 Chile and Bolivia signed a border treaty, one of its points was not to impose new taxes on individuals, industries and Chilean capital for 25 years
9.
Mauna Kea Observatories
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The facilities are located in a 525-acre special land use zone known as the Astronomy Precinct, which is located within the 11, 228-acre Mauna Kea Science Reserve. The Astronomy Precinct was established in 1967 and is located on land protected by the Historical Preservation Act for its significance to Hawaiian culture. After studying photos for NASAs Apollo program that contained greater detail than any ground based telescope, while he first began looking in Chile, he also made the decision to perform tests in the Hawaiian Islands. Tests on Mauis Haleakalā were promising, but the mountain was too low in the inversion layer, on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi, Mauna Kea is considered the highest island mountain in the world. While the summit is covered with snow, the air is extremely dry. Kuiper began looking into the possibility of an observatory on Mauna Kea, after testing, he discovered the low humidity was perfect for infrared signals. He persuaded Hawaiʻi Governor John A. Burns to bulldoze a road to the summit where he built a small telescope on Puʻu Poliʻahu. The peak was the second highest on the mountain with the highest peak being holy ground, next, Kuiper tried enlisting NASA to fund a larger facility with a large telescope, housing and other needed structures. NASA, in turn decided to make the open to competition. Professor of physics, John Jefferies of the University of Hawaii placed a bid on behalf of the university, Jefferies had gained his reputation through observations at Sacramento Peak Observatory. The proposal was for a telescope to serve both the needs of NASA and the university. Kuiper would abandon his site over the competition and begin work in Arizona on a different NASA project, after considerable testing by Jefferies team, the best locations were determined to be near the summit at the top of the cinder cones. Testing also determined Mauna Kea to be superb for nighttime viewing due to many factors, including the air, constant trade winds. Jefferies would build a 2.24 meter telescope with the State of Hawaiʻi agreeing to build a reliable, building began in 1967 and first light was seen in 1970. Other groups began requesting subleases on the newly accessible mountaintop, by 1970, two 24 in telescopes had been constructed by the United States Air Force and Lowell Observatory. In 1973, Canada and France agreed to build the 3.6 m CFHT on Mauna Kea, however, local organizations started to raise concerns about the environmental impact of the observatory. This led the Department of Land and Natural Resources to prepare a management plan, drafted in 1977. In January 1982, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved a plan to support the development of scientific facilities at the site
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