- Title: Chile's observatories face major threat from electric complex project
- Date: 17th March 2025
- Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (MARCH 17, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ESO REPRESENTATIVE IN CHILE, ITZIAR DE GREGORIO-MONSALVE, SAYING: "The reason we've built and are considering building these mega telescopes in Chile is because of the quality of its skies. We need that level of darkness and atmospheric quality to reach the universe's edges. With the ELT telescope, which will
- Embargoed:
- Keywords: Astronomy Chile ESO Light pollution Observatory
- Location: PARANAL, ANTOFAGASTA AND SANTIAGO, CHILE
- City: PARANAL, ANTOFAGASTA AND SANTIAGO, CHILE
- Country: Chile
- Topics: South America / Central America,Science,Space Exploration
- Reuters ID: LVA003955717032025RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The European Southern Observatory (ESO) warned on Monday (March 17) that the proposed INNA industrial project, a massive electrical production complex, could devastate astronomical observations at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, according to a detailed technical analysis.
The analysis revealed that light pollution from the project could increase by at least 35%, and air turbulence from wind turbines could degrade viewing conditions by up to 40%.
ESO representative Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalve emphasized the importance of Chile's clear skies for groundbreaking astronomical research.
The Antofagasta region, in the northern part of Chile, is a key player in global mining, and also hosts the construction of the €1.45 billion Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).
(Production: Jorge Vega, Rodrigo Gutierrez, Jorge Vega, Hugo Monnet) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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