Cerro Armazones
Chile · Americas
About
Cerro Armazones is a mountain located in the Sierra Vicuña Mackenna of the Chilean Coast Range of the Andes, approximately 105 km (65 mi) southeast of Antofagasta in the Antofagasta Region, Chile. The mountain is situated in an ideal location for optical astronomy due to its 89% cloudless nights annually. On 26 April 2010, the European Southern Observatory Council selected Cerro Armazones as the site for the planned Extremely Large Telescope (ELT); construction commenced in June 2014. The first light observation is scheduled for 2027.
Prior to ELT construction, Cerro Armazones had an elevation of 3,064 metres (10,052 ft), but the resulting plateau now stands several meters lower after the summit was truncated during construction.
Situated on a neighbouring hill approximately 1 km (1 mi) to the southwest and 230 m (755 ft) below Cerro Armazones lies the Polish Cerro Murphy Observatory, operated by the Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw. Observations are conducted by the Araucaria Project.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.