Cerro Pachón

E83732

Cerro Pachón is a high-altitude mountain peak in the Chilean Andes renowned as a premier site for professional astronomical observatories due to its clear, dry skies and stable atmospheric conditions.


Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf astronomical observatory site
mountain
access road from La Serena vicinity
atmosphericSeeing good
atmosphericWaterVapor low
climate arid
country Chile
distanceToCity roughly 80–90 km from La Serena
elevation approximately 2715 meters
approximately 8910 feet
hasObservatory Gemini South Observatory
SOAR Telescope
Vera C. Rubin Observatory
hemisphere Southern Hemisphere
hosts Gemini South 8.1-meter telescope
Rubin Observatory Simonyi Survey Telescope
Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope
infrastructure astronomical observatory facilities
power and communications for observatories
support buildings for telescopes
knownFor clear skies
dry climate
excellent astronomical observing conditions
stable atmosphere
lightPollution low
locatedIn Andes
Coquimbo Region
northern Chile
near Cerro Tololo
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
observingNightsPerYear high fraction of photometric nights
ownership land used under agreements with Chilean authorities
partOf Chilean Andes
region Elqui Province NERFINISHED
scientificRole key site for southern optical/IR astronomy
major site for large survey telescope
skyCoverage southern sky
skyQuality dark skies
telescopeAperture 4.1-meter (SOAR)
8.1-meter (Gemini South)
8.4-meter effective (Rubin Observatory primary mirror)
terrain high-altitude ridge in the Andes
usedBy international astronomy community
usedFor infrared astronomy
optical astronomy
wide-field sky surveys
weatherPattern predominantly clear nights

Referenced by (9)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
FLAMINGOS-2 ("Cerro Pachón, Chile")
GMOS-S ("Cerro Pachón, Chile")
GSAOI ("Cerro Pachón, Chile")
locatedAt
Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Zorro (speckle imager)
locatedIn
CTIO
hasNearbyFacility
Gemini South Observatory
locatedOn
GSAOI ("Cerro Pachón Observatory site")
observatorySite
GeMS
observingSite

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