Astronomy In Chile

File:Northern Chile From Space.jpg

View from space of the Atacama desert in the Northern Chile

Chile

Northern Chile hosts some of the largest optical facitities for astronomy and is the future place for some of the largest ground-based optical, submillimeter and microwave telescopes upcoming in the next decades. Chilean and international astronomers, engineers, students, amateur astronomers and teachers are part of a diverse astronomical community.

Chilean Astronomical Institutions

Professional Astronomy

Sociedad Chilena de Astronomia (SOCHIAS)

Northern Chile

- Astronomy Group, Universidad de La Serena

- Universidad de Tarapaca

Central Chile

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Valparaíso

Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.

Astronomy Department, Universidad de Chile

Southern Chile

Astronomy Deparment, Universidad de Concepcion

Amateur Astronomy

- Cerro Los Condores Observatory (Atacama Region)

- Cerro Mayu Observatory (Coquimbo Region)

- Cerro Mamalluca Observatory (Coquimbo Region)

- Cerro Collowara Observatory (Coquimbo Region)

- Sociedad Astronomica de Valparaiso y Viña (SAVAL) (Valparaiso Region)

- Rama de Astronomia (RASTRO), Universidad de Concepcion (Bio-Bio Region)

- Asociacion Chilena de Astronomia y Astronautica (ACHAYA) (Metropolitan Region)

International Astronomical Institutions in Chile

- Carnegie Observatories

- European Southern Observatory (ESO)

- National Optical Astronomical Observatories (NOAO, USA)

- National Radioastronomical Observatories (NRAO, USA)

Observatories

Existing Facilities

Picture of La Silla Observatory taken from Las Campanas Observatory

- Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory: NOAO telescopes, SMART consortium, GONG, PROMPT, ALPACA.

- Cerro Pachon Observatory: Gemini Observatory, SOAR Telescope.

- Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: Cosmic Background Imager (CBI), Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), Q/U Imaging ExperimenT QUIET,

- Pampa La Bola and Purico Complex: Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE), NANTEN2 Observatory

- Paranal Observatory: Very Large Telescope (VLT), Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA Telescope).

- La Silla Observatory: ESO telescopes,

- Las Campanas Observatory: Carnegie telescopes, Magellan Telescopes, Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network

- Cerro El Roble Observatory

- Observatorio Nacional

- Observatorio Manuel Foster

Future Facilities

File:GiantMagellanTelescope-CarnegieObservatories.gif

Artwork of Giant Magellan Telescope

- VLT Survey Telescope

- Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT)

- Atacama Large Millimeter Array

- Thirty Meter Telescope: not confirmed location. Potential sites in Chile are Cerro Armazones (Antofagasta Region), Cerro Tolanchar (Antofagasta Region) and Cerro Tolar (Antofagasta Region)

- European-Extremely Large Telescope: not confirmed location.

- Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST): to be located in Cerro Pachon Observatory (El Peñón).

Further information on Extremely_large_telescope.

Education

Postgraduate programs

- Universidad de Chile (Santiago): Master and Doctorate programs in Science with specialization in Astronomy

- Universidad de Concepcion (Concepcion): Master and Doctorate programs in Physical Science with specialization in Astronomy

- Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (Santiago): join program with Department of Astrophysical Sciences of the Princeton University (USA). Master and Doctorate programs in Exact Science with specialization in Astronomy.

People

Astronomers

- Abbot, Tim (CTIO): late stages of binary star evolution, interacting stars and cataclysmic variables.

- Rodolfo Barba (U. La Serena): young star clustes, OB associations, star formation in the Local Group; massive stars, Wolf-Rayert stars, galactic structure.

- Luis Barrera, (UMCE)

- Hamuy, Mario (U de Chile): supernovae, distance scale, observational cosmology

- Kurtev, Radostin (U. Valparaiso): OB associations, star formation, nearby galaxies, star clusters, stellar photometry, distance scale, brown dwarfs, infrared astronomy.

- Marcelo Mora, (U. Valparaiso)

- Veronica Motta (U. Valparaiso)

- Phillips, Mark (LCO): supernovae, distance scale.

- Rammirez, Amelia (U. La Serena): dynamics and evolution of galaxies, galaxy groups and clusters.

- Richtler, Tom (U. de Concepcion): galaxy dynamics, globular clusters.

- Markus Schoeller (ESO Santiago): interferometry, young stellar objects.

Engineers

- Seguel, Juan (CTIO): site testing.

Amateur Astronomers and Teachers

- Gomez, Arturo: discoverer of the Gomez's Hamburger, a protoplanetary nebula, or a star that is in a state of evolution immediately before the true planetary nebula stage.

- Jimenez, Carmen Gloria: teacher and psycologist working as Educational Expert for the Astronomy Department of the Universidad de Concepcion. She is widely known to participate in the NASA's program "Teachers in Space" having the option to visit the Internation 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. Winner of the Michael Faraday Award for the Best Physics Teacher (2007)