Cerro Armazones

Mountain in Chile

Cerro Armazones

Location in Chile

LocationAntofagasta Region, ChileParent rangeCordillera Vicuña Mackenna

Cerro Armazones is a mountain located in the Sierra Vicuña Mackenna of the Chilean Coast Range of Andes, approximately 130 km (81 mi) south-east of Antofagasta in the Antofagasta Region, Chile. The mountain is located in a privileged zone for optical astronomy because it has 89% cloudless nights a year.^[1] On 26 April 2010, the European Southern Observatory Council selected Cerro Armazones as the site for the planned Extremely Large Telescope (ELT); the construction began in June 2014,^[2]^[3] and the first light is expected in 2027.^[4] Before the construction of the ELT began, the elevation of Cerro Armazones had been 3,064 metres (10,052 ft),^[4]^[5] but now the top is truncated and the resulting plateau is several meters lower.

On the neighbouring hill, 1 km (1 mi) to the southwest and 230 m (755 ft) below Cerro Armazones, there is the Polish astrophysical observatory, the Cerro Armazones Observatory, managed by the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw; observations are conducted by the Araucaria Project.

Gallery

Supermoon rising up from behind Cerro Armazones.^[6]
Night-time panorama of Cerro Armazones
Carving a route to Armazones, with Cerro Paranal and the Very Large Telescope in the background.
Result of the apparent motion of the stars through the southern sky.^[7]
VLT's Auxiliary Telescope (AT) 2 with Cerro Armazones in the background. Credit: ESO/G. Lombardi
Sunset Cerro Armazones.
360 panorama.
After the groundbreaking back in June 2014, work continues on Cerro Armazones in preparation for construction work on the E-ELT.
The peak of Cerro Armazones appears flattened as efforts continue to craft a platform for the European Extremely Large Telescope.

References

^ Schöck, M.; Els, S.; Riddle, R.; Skidmore, W.; Travouillon, T.; Blum, R.; Bustos, E.; Chanan, G.; Djorgovski, S. G.; Gillett, P.; Gregory, B.; Nelson, J.; Otárola, A.; Seguel, J.; Vasquez, J.; Walker, A.; Walker, D.; Wang, L. (1 April 2009). "Thirty Meter Telescope Site Testing I: Overview". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 121 (878): 384–395. arXiv:0904.1183. Bibcode:2009PASP..121..384S. doi:10.1086/599287.
^ "E-ELT Site Chosen". Europe: European Southern Observatory. 26 April 2010. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
^ "Astronomers to blow top off mountain to make way for world's biggest". The Independent. 2014-06-19. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
^ ^a ^b [email protected]. "Facts | ELT | ESO". elt.eso.org. Retrieved 2023-09-11.
^ Joint Operations Graphic (JPEG) (Map) (1st ed.). 1 : 250,000. 1501. Defence Mapping Agency Topographic Center. 1974. p. Sheet SG 19-2.
^ "Supermoon beckons in the new year". www.eso.org. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
^ "Ripples Across the Chilean Sky". ESO Picture of the Week. Retrieved 29 May 2013.