Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
Situated about 30 miles inland of La Serena in Chile, on a 7,000 foot mountain in the Andes, this observatory is home to several telescopes. The most famous is the Victor Blanco 4-meter (158 inch) reflector which has been at the cutting edge of astronomy since the mid-1970s.
View from the Top
This spectacular view from the summit of Cerro Tololo reveals the Andes in all their beauty. The mists filling the valleys between the peaks adds a surreal quality to the image.
Taken 30 June 2019.
Smaller scopes
The dome on the left houses the 1.5m (59-inch) Cassegrain telescope which dates from 1968. The others contain smaller instruments.
The 1.5-meter (59-inch) reflector
Although we saw much larger telescopes on our tour, this was one of the most interesting because the guide was willing to show us the telescope in motion. He even opened the dome – most unusual for a professional telescope during the day as the risk the Sun damaging equipment is all too real.
As the guide put it, this telescope takes us back to the ‘good old days’ of astronomy, when researchers travelled to the observatory to take their data, and stayed up all night to make sure everything worked.
These days nearly everything is automated and remote-controlled, often from another continent.
Dome of the Blanco telescope
The strong sun, high winds and breathtaking views made our visit to Cerro Tololo a memorable experience.
The dome of the 4-meter telescope towers above the site and is built to withstand earthquakes and high winds.
Some people are included in the shot for scale.
The deep blue of the sky as seen from 7000 feet illustrates both the altitude and the transparency of the atmosphere.
The 4-meter scope mounting
This instrument was completed a year after its twin (the Mayall scope on Kitt Peak) in 1974 and began science projects in 1976.
The massive mounting lies at an angle of 30°, matching its latitude. This continues the twin analogy as Kitt Peak is located at a latitude of just over 30° North while Cerro Tololo is at 30° South.
The 4-meter Blanco Telescope
This scope has been active since the mid-1970s and has delivered many amazing images and enabled a number of discoveries. It was the largest telescope in the southern hemisphere between 1976 and 1998, when the first 8-meter scope of the VLT (Very Large Telescope) came online at nearby Cerro Paranal.
Its twin, The Mayall telescope on Kitt Peak in Arizona, looks identical, even to the extent that the polar axis of the massive mountings lie at the same angle – see this post.
Despite being over 40 years old, this scope continues at the forefront of research. Its principal instrument is the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) which is part of the Dark Energy Survey, a project involving several observatories worldwide including the Mayall scope on Kitt Peak.
It is hoped that this survey will help astronomers better understand the nature of Dark Energy.
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