Astro-tourism heaven at northern Chile

 

 

According to International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) Elqui Valley, in Northeren Chile, a wine-growing region some 400 km north of the Chilean capital Santiago, ‘has been recognised and designated as the first International Dark Sky Sanctuary in the world’.

Electricity, here is a nuisance to serious and amateur astronomers, who tend not to seek light pollution emitted by street lamps, homes and other lit-up fixtures of urban life.

Deserted northern Chile is an epicentre for astronomical observatories, as more than 40 percent of the world’s telescopes are stationed here, and that number is expected to grow to 70 percent by 2018 as ever larger facilities are built to provide a closer look at Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and even the Black Hole at the centre of our universe.

The darker the sky, the easier it is to detect the satellites, planets, comets and other celestial shining bodies under pristine viewing conditions.

‘The northern skies of the desert are ideal for observation, because there are nearly 300 clear days a year,’ says Silvia Lisoni, a professor of history and geography at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) of Chile who founded Turismo Sol del Desierto, an agency that provides specialised astronomical tours.