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ASTRONOMY IN CHILE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
There is no doubt that Chile
is the country that has the best conditions for astronomic
investigation in the planet. The studies, conducted in the
north of the country, show that only the instruments in
outer space can receive better results.
It is for this reason that
many mega projects of astronomic observatories have been
installed in Chile: Project Genimi-Sur, with an 8m diameter
telescope, Cerro Pachon, the Magallanes Project, which has
2 6.5m diameter telescopes, in Cerro Las Campanas in the
4th Region and Cerro Paranal, with 4.8m diameter
telescopes of in Antofagasta.
Today, definitely, the Second
Region could be placed between the most important places
in the planet for the astronomical observation, since the
Chilean Government – consequently with the special interest
shown towards the development of the national science and
technology- granted the locations required for the construction
of one of the most important projects worldwide in radio
astronomy in this century; the ALMA PROJECT (Atacama Large
Millimetre Array) 555 would be invested in this project
in the next 8 years.
An onerous concession of
50 years of a surface of 17.700 fiscal hectare in the Llano
de Chajnantor, near San Pedro de Atacama, is the final step
in the negotiations between the parts (Chile, Europe and
United States) an the beginning for the construction of
the building.
This is not only good news
for the national scientific community which will be directly
benefited with the project. The negotiation gave chance
to obtain, with 10% of the observation time in the radio-telescope
for Chilean astronomers, annual income to finance the development
of local, regional and national scientific projects. In
the scientific aspect, ALMA would let investigate the origin
of celestial objects, but it would also need our scientific
capacity to address new challenges and the tools to commit
to the investigation which would put our astronomers in
the frontier of knowledge in astrophysics.
COOPERATION AGREEMENT
FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE ASTRONOMIC INVESTIGATION AMONG
AUI, ESO AND CONICYT
In October 2003, an agreement
of scientific cooperation for the astronomic investigation
promotion between CONICYT and the Associated Universities
Inc., AUI and the European Southern Observatory, ESO, both,
executive organizations of the construction and cooperation
for the Proyecto Atacama (Atacama Project) Large Millimetre
Array, ALMA.
This agreement states that
the national scientific community will have access to a
10% of observation time of the Radio telescope, ALMA, one
of the most important projects worldwide in radio astronomy
of this century. Also, AUI and ESO agree to give an annual
payment to CONICYT of 184.466 dollars and 169.598 euros
respectively. These funds would be administrated by CONICYT
and used for the development of Chilean astronomy, in consultation
with a mixed committee which counts with the participation
of ALMA executives, a CONICYT representative, the Chilean
astronomical community and a representative from the House
of Foreign Affairs.
ASTRONOMY PROJECT
GEMINI
Gemini is an astronomy project
of international cooperation with participation of the United
Stated, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Argentina and
Brazil. The purpose is to operate two 8.1 meters telescopes,
one located in the Mauna Kea hill, in Hawaii, United States,
and another in Cerro Pachón, in the IV Region of Chile.
Both telescopes and its instrumentation are designed with
the object of obtaining very high quality images of the
Universe, with a lot of help from the atmospheric conditions
in those places; Cerro Pachón at 2.700 meters and Mauna
Kea at 4.200 meters high.
The astronomic Chilean community
has access to 10% of the observation time in Gemini-Sur.
There are seven participating
countries, including Chile for the first time, as a member
of a project of this nature. The main partner is United
States with a 47, 62% participation and the other ones are,
Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
The time of telescope use
is designated by competition, where an astronomer (or group)
asks for the telescope to solve a problem that is considered
of importance. Committees of experts will be in charge of
analyzing and select the most transcendental projects
GEMINI – CONICYT OFFICE
The mission of the Chilean
Office of the Gemini Project is to stimulate the use of
the Gemini telescopes by the Chilean astronomic community;
maximize the intellectual and economic resources that come
from the Chilean participation in the project; to promote
the comprehension and appreciation of the general public
with the scientific achievements obtained by Gemini and
specially by the Chilean scientists, and also from the other
national support which are relevant to the project.
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