Las Campanas Observatory

#151 among destinations in Chile

Observatories and planetariums

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Facts and practical information

Las Campanas Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science. It is in the southern Atacama Desert of Chile in the Atacama Region approximately 100 kilometres northeast of the city of La Serena. The LCO telescopes and other facilities are near the north end of a 7 km long mountain ridge. Cerro Las Campanas, near the southern end and over 2,500 m high, is the future home of the Giant Magellan Telescope. ()

Local name: Observatorio Las Campanas Coordinates: 29°0'36"S, 70°42'6"W

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AtacamaChile

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Day trips

Las Campanas Observatory – popular in the area (distance from the attraction)

Nearby attractions include: Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, Magellan Planet Search Program.

~830 ftE
Observatories and planetariums
Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment
5 min walk • The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment is a Polish astronomical project based at the University of Warsaw that runs a long-term variability sky survey.
0.7 miSE
Observatories and planetariums
Magellan Planet Search Program
18 min walk • The Magellan Planet Search Program is a ground-based search for extrasolar planets that makes use of the radial velocity method. It began gathering data in December 2002 using the MIKE echelle spectrograph mounted on the 6.5m Magellan II "Clay" telescope located within the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.