AURA Observatories

20 January 2007

The AURA observatories are high above the Chilean town of La Serena and the Elqui Valley. The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) is a consortium of US, UK, Argentine, Canadian, Chilean, Australian, and Brazilian universities and institutions that operate astronomical observatories and telescopes in both Hawaii (Northern hemisphere) and Chile (Southern hemisphere).

According to Wikipedia: "The site we visited is located at about 2700 m (9000 ft) elevation on a mountain in the Chilean Andes called Cerro Tololo. Very dry air and negligible cloud cover make this another prime telescope location." The site includes 8 telescopes that are apparently the most advanced available to astronomers in the world.

We learned that the NSF (National Science Foundation) in the US is funding the site and astronomers need only apply for a grant (and get it accepted!) to get time on the scopes. We heard varying figures, but the site is apparently worth about 200 million US dollars.

Our visit to the observatories lasted quite some time - after driving UP for an hour from about 500 meters to 2700 meters above sea level, we saw two of their largest telescopes and a very good film put out by IMAX and Air and Space Museum explaining matter (atoms, etc.) and the universe, called Cosmic Voyage.

We were also informed that, in the Southern Hemisphere, the McNaught Comet is currently visible for about 30 minutes just at sunset. The comet was visible about one hand length South from the planet Venus, which is currently located right next to the moon (my picture shows Venus and the Moon only, the other picture is the comet). The link I pasted shows a terrific picture of the comet - mine is not quite that clear. The tail was unbelievable long and wide - quite a site!