Las Campanas Observatory

Las Campanas Observatory

Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory
Alternative names	LCO
Organization	Carnegie Institution for Science
Observatory code	304, I05
Location	Atacama Region, Chile
Coordinates	29°00′57″S 70°41′31″W
Altitude	2,380 m (7,810 ft)
Established	1969
Website	www.lco.cl
Telescopes	Du Pont Telescope Swope Telescope Warsaw Telescope Giant Magellan Telescope Magellan Telescopes
Location of Las Campanas Observatory
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

Las Campanas Observatory is an astronomical observatory in the southern Atacama desert in Chile. It is owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science. It was built in 1969 as the main observing site for the Carnegie Institution for Science. The headquarters are located in La Serena, Chile and the observatory is about 100 km (62 mi) northeast of the city. The observatory is at 2,400 m (7,874 ft) above sea level.

On February 24, 1987, Ian Shelton and Oscar Duhalde first saw the Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A).

Telescopes

• Magellan Telescopes — Two 6.5m telescopes, Magellan 1 named after Walter Baade and Magellan II after Landon Clay
• Du Pont Telescope — 2.5-meter (100-inch), named after Irénée du Pont and in operation since 1977 ^[1]
• Swope Telescope — 1m, named after Henrietta Swope
• Warsaw Telescope — 1.3 m, owned by Warsaw University Observatory
• Giant Magellan Telescope (under construction) — 24.5 m effective (seven 8.4 m segments)
• NANTEN Telescope (closed) — 4m millimeter-wavelength radio telescope, transported to Atacama desert, Chile.

There are also the small "Pi of the sky" wide-angle cameras that filmed the gamma ray burst GRB 080319B in 2008. This was the largest explosion ever seen in the Universe, and could have been seen without a telescope.^[2]

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  Du Pont telescope

Other websites

• Las Campanas Observatory Archived 2007-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
• Carnegie Institution for Science Archived 2010-05-21 at the Wayback Machine

References

1. "The Carnegie Observatories - du Pont Telescope". Archived from the original on 2009-10-10. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
2. Schilling, Govert (21 March 2008). "Universe's most powerful blast visible to the naked eye - space - 21 March 2008 - New Scientist". newscientist.com. Retrieved 11 October 2011.

29°00′54″S 70°41′32″W