A Tour of the Las Campanas Observatory - Chile
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From left to right: 100-inch Dupont telescope (far left), 1.3-meter Polish telescope, 40-inch Swope telescope, maintenance shops (4 long metal buildings), Twin Magellan telescopes (on hill far right), This photo was taken from the summit of Cerro Las Campanas, future site of the Giant Magellan Telescope |
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Getting There |
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The Las Campanas Observatory is located in the southern Atacama Region of Chile north of the resort town of La Serena. LAN Chile Airlines offers daily flights from Santiago to La Serena with a travel time The Observatory is located at W 70d41m34s S 29d00m53s. This places it at an equivalent longitude of western Maine and latitude of South Africa. |
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![]() Looking east from the Pan American Highway (Chile Ruta 5) toward the Las Campanas Observatory. On the distant mountain ridge about 16 air miles away are the 100-inch DuPont (left), 40-inch Swope (middle), and Twin Magellan 6.5- meter telescope domes barely visible atop a peak right of the Swope. The Observatory is located in the southern end of the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. The vegitation in this area is lush compared to extreme areas of the Atacama Desert further to the north, where plant life is non-existant across great swathes of the desert. |
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Following a paved road east from the Pan American Highway, in 6.4 miles the road forks right to ESO’s La Silla Observatory and left to the Las Campanas Observatory. From this point on the road to Las Campanas is an unpaved but excellent graded dirt surface. The colorful landscape and prickly flora found here are similar in appearance to that of the Mojave Desert in the American Southwest. |
My wife and I shortly reached a Carnegie Institution sign reading “Area of Scientific Interest; Protected Area” Public visitation and travel on this road is not allowed without first obtaining permission from the Las Campanas Observatory headquarters in La Serena. Although well graded, this road winds through the mountains and has some dangerous curves and big drops down into canyons below. |
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Approaching the Observatory we came upon the local burro herd taking a dust bath |
These burros seemed unfazed by our presence and allowed us to drive up very close to them. |
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We encountered this beautiful buckskin mare just past the location where we spotted the burros. She stood there warily watching us, about to make her exit down the steep hillside. |
Entry to the Observatory is via a security gate. To gain entry visitors must announce their arrival by ringing the main lodge using the intercom mounted on the right side of the gate. |
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The Main Lodge |
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The Observatory's main lodge, named in honor of Horace Babcock. Babcock was a Carnegie astronomer and Director of Las Campanas instrumental in securing the land upon which the Observatory would eventually be built. The lodge is located at an elevation of 7907 feet (2410 m) above sea level and houses the kitchen and dining room, a spacious lounge area, conference room, a laundry facility, locker rooms, rest rooms, and some small administrative offices. |
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The astronomer’s lodge with the Twin Magellan telescope domes in the background. | Another view of the astronomer’s lodge. | |
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Looking south from the rooms to the Main Lodge in the background. The Mediterranean-style red tile roofs, natural stone used for building materials, and xeriscapic landscaping blend very well and create a visually appealing ambiance in this harsh environment. | Las Campanas translates from Spanish to “The Bells”. The mountain got its name from
a type of grayish rock that makes a bell-like sound when struck together. The rocks in this photo, upon which a tune can be played, are located just outside the entrance to the main lodge. |
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The accommodations at the lodge are excellent. Spacious rooms with a private bathroom/shower, |
Another angle of the room with a view out the window to the east. Note the humidifier (lower right) |
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The 100-inch DuPont Telescope |
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The 100-inch DuPont telescope (left) and 1.3 -meter Polish Telescope (right) at sunset. Operational since 1977 at Las Campanas, the telescope is named in honor of Irénée du Pont I (December 21, 1876 – December 19, 1963), a former president of the DuPont Company and head of the DuPont trust. |
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Roland Christen of Astro-Physics, Inc. of Rockford, Illinois admiring the 100-inch Ritchey-Chretien telescope from the main floor. The telescope is designed to operate as an f/7.5 Cassegrain or f/30 Coude, however the Coude option was never implemented. The optics include an f/3 fused quartz primary mirror, 95mm diameter Cassegrain secondary, and a 741 mm corrector plate located at the primary hole, giving an unvignetted/corrected field of view of 1.45 degrees.
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A view of the 100-inch from the upper catwalk showing the instrument package at the rear and the flat fielding screen mounted to the shutter opening in front of the telescope. The massive mount was designed and built by the Boller & Chivens Division of the Perkin Elmer Company. |
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Looking down the truss tube of the 100-inch at the primary mirror from the catwalk level. The secondary mechanism is a flip-top design to quickly switch from a Cassegrain to Coude configuration. |
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A shot of our tour group. From left to right; Dave Jurasevich, Mike Long, Oscar Duhalde (LCO), Roland Christen, Marj Christen, Dr. Barry Madore (Carnegie). |
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The 6.5-meter Twin Magellan Telescopes | ||
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The Twin Magellan telescope domes on Cerro Manqui at 8370 feet (2450 m) above sea level. Each dome houses a 6.5-meter class telescope, with the Landon Clay telescope in the left dome and |
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The Baade telescope dome up close (above). Notice the extensive array of louvers to allow for quick equilibrium of the telescope with the ambient outside air prior to observing. The first of the Twin Magellan telescopes to be completed, the 6.5-meter Baade telescope (right), an Alt-Az design showing the open truss construction. The basic design is an f/11 Gregorian configuration with Nasmyth ports located on the sides of the telescope to accommodate fixed instruments. Note the large, black flex duct at the bottom right of the telescope, which blows air through the telescope assembly including the hollow truss pipes to facilitate the instrument reaching thermal equilibrium. |
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With the telescope pointing at a very low altitude (above), a view of the back side showing
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A shot of our tour group under the big mirror (left). From left to right; Dave Jurasevich,
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An access panel is removed to expose the figure control electro-mechanical components of the primary mirror used to correct low-order aberrations in the optical system. |
The storage area for the Twin Magellan telescopes is located in the building connecting the two domes. Shown here are a few of the project instruments used on these telescopes. |
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A wide field multi-object spectrograph showing the plug plate and fiber optic cables. |
The aluminizing chamber for the Twin Magellan 6.5-meter primary mirrors. |
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Future Home of the Giant Magellan Telescope |
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Note the peak directly over the main lodge in the background with the light colored spoils over the side. That's Cerro Las Campanas at 8370 feet (2450 m) elevation, future home of the Giant Magellan Telescope. |
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Heading for the summit of Cerro Las Campanas |
This is a ring foundation for the water tank to be installed on the summit. Water is pumped up from hundreds of feet below in the canyon to this spot. |
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An artist rendering of the completed GMT Photo credit: Todd Mason - Giant Magellan Telescope
Click here to see a 6 minute YouTube video introduction to the GMT |
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Flora and Fauna |
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This purple purple flower, which I've not been able to identify, carpeted the ground in one small area near the Main Lodge. |
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Landscapes
Concluding, I leave you with some panoramic images of this magical place. Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoyed the tour.
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A crescent moon and Venus in the early evening sky. Taken from Manquis Ridge looking west, a few lights from vehicles on the Pan American Highway can be seen in the valley below. |
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An incredible night sky panorama by Yuri Beletsky of Las Campanas Observatory- The Milky Way over the Twin Magellan domes. Yuri is a friend and expert photographer with his work appearing in NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day. |
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