LA SILLA OBSERVATORY

The Observatory of La Silla is located 160 km north of La Serena. It is in a way the historical observatory implanted in Chile by the Europeans. The ESO (European Southern Observatory) has built no less than 19 domes there, housing as many telescopes and measuring instruments to study a large number of eclectic celestial targets. Today, La Silla is the largest active observatory in the southern hemisphere. For the visitor, it is also the epitome of the modern observatory as one imagines it, with its mostly traditional domes, set against a backdrop of intense blue skies, on a mountain peak some 2,400 m above sea level. The view of the surrounding desert at this altitude is magnificent and worth the trip alone, as is the slow climb to the observatory gates on a road that seems to lead straight to heaven. The guided tour begins with a video presentation of the observatory. Then we head towards the two "must-sees" on the site: the 3.6 m diameter telescope, which has become one of the most powerful instruments for detecting planets orbiting stars other than the Sun, and the NTT (New Technology Telescope), the first telescope in the world to have used new techniques to compensate for atmospheric turbulence (in order to increase its ability to "see" fine details), foreshadowing the VLT located further north, towards Antofagasta.