Astronomic Tourism

The development of new types of tourism is a situation that has become very interesting in recent years in Chile. This has caused, and perhaps largely attracted by the variety, the arrival of thousands of foreign tourists coming from distant areas such as Europe, USA and even Australia.

In the Fourth Region of Chile is starting to develop the Astronomical Tourism, a type of tourism which can be labeled under the category of special interest because their particular style of tourism attracts all persons without regardless of age, sex or religion.

The Elqui Valley is home to a mountain basin, located in the Region of Coquimbo, about 90 km from La Serena and 470 km north of Santiago, whose river (Elqui river) flows into the sea after traveling 140 km from the Andes mountains. Major tributaries of the Elqui River are the Claro and Turbio rivers.

This valley is located one of the many dams that owns the region, the reservoir Puclaro, which is 432 meters in an area known as Angostura Puclaro. Has a capacity of 200 million cubic meters of water and 760 hectare.
 

It is a small town situated in an oasis located in the high plateau of the second region. Formerly home to the Atacameños, its population is just over 2.500 inhabitants and it is possible to observe in this area some of the highest peaks of the Andes Mountain Range.

Today, its importance lies in the number of tourists from different parts of the world, attracted by its archeological history, which lead San Pedro de Atacama to be considered the archeological capital of Chile. The extension of its landscapes and its blue skies are spectacularly clear almost all year.

The  Pangue Observatory located 17 Km. South of Vicuña in the region IV Chile shares the heavens more clear of the world next to observatories as the Tololo, Soar and Gemini. The place where it is located the Pangue Observatory is attractive not only for its natural beauty, but also by being a place where the observatories are the only human constructions visible. The absence of light pollution next to the climatic conditions optimum  allow the observatory offer a high-quality service and customized to a public more demanding.

The Cerro Armazones, 3,060 meters in height, situated in the Atacama desert some 130 km south of Antofagasta, Chile, was the site chosen to install the telescope largest in the world -known as European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), which also aspired Spain, as reported by the Council of European Southern Observatory (IT). "This is an important milestone that allows us to finalize the design basis of this ambitious project, which will allow significant progress in the astronomical knowledge," said Tim de Zeeuw, Director General of that. "I thank the team that selected the place by the enormous work done in recent years".

Alma Project (The Atacama Large Millimeter Array) is an international astronomical facility where the objective is to develop a telescope, nothing like it in the world, consisting of a group of up to 66 radiotelescopic antennas working together, all pointing to the same source to study the universe, from a place 5 thousand meters above sea level, in the hghlands (Llano de Chajnantor) of the Andes Mountain Range, 50 kms. from San Pedro de Atacama in the Second Region of Chile. ALMA is the first truly global astronomical project, a site where scientists from around the world will come to use more sophisticated instruments to capture millimetric wavelength light.