Astronomy in Chile

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In 2011,^[2] Chile was home to 42% of the world's astronomical infrastructure, consisting principally of telescopes. In 2015, it was estimated that Chile would contain more than 50% of the global astronomical infrastructure by 2030.^[3] In the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile, the skies are exceptionally clear and dry for more than 300 days of the year. These conditions have attracted the world's scientific community to develop highly ambitious astronomical projects in the Atacama Desert.^[4][5]

Chile's diverse and active astronomical community includes Chilean and international professionals, including astronomers, engineers, students, and teachers, as well as amateurs.

The first documented report of an astronomical measurement carried out in Chile was the observation of a lunar eclipse by the soldier Pedro Cuadrado Chavino in June 1582.^[6] He used a classic Greek method to establish the latitude of the city of Valdivia based on measurements during the eclipse. Three centuries thereafter, in 1849 under the government of Manuel Bulnes, a scientific mission organized by the U.S. Navy that was led by James Melville Gilliss arrived in Chile to observe Venus and Mars to determine the distance between the Earth and the Sun.^{[citation needed]} Gilliss' mission established the first astronomical observatory in the Cerro Santa Lucia (Santiago). Three years thereafter, in 1852, the facilities comprising that observatory were transferred to Chile and the National Astronomical Observatory was born.^[7] During the second half of the 20th century, observatories owned and operated by organizations in the U.S. and Europe were constructed in various locations in the north of the country:^[8] La Silla, Cerro Tololo, Las Campanas and later Cerro Paranal, Cerro Pachon and Chajnantor.