Re:The Billion-Dollar Telescope Race
by melling on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @05:44PM
(#8260351)
Several years ago I backpacking in the Atacama desert in Chile. That's where a lot of telescopes are built because it's so dry. I stopped in one city and I tried to find an observatory through my hostel that took visitors but had no luck. Guess whatever tour was available wasn't popular enough. Has anyone had any luck in Chile?
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ESO offers guided tours of their Paranal and La Silla observatories.
I've toured several observatories in Chile (and had a blast doing so.) That being said, I studied astrophysics and spent a few months doing astronomy research in Chile, so I wasn't really taking public tours or anything.
Re:The Billion-Dollar Telescope Race
by arethuza on Wednesday September 03, 2014 @04:27AM
(#8262010)
The ESO "hotel" at Paranal is itself a gorgeous building:
http://www.archello.com/en/project/eso-hotel-cerro-paranal-c...
It was used in the James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace".
Re:The Billion-Dollar Telescope Race
by marcosscriven on Tuesday September 02, 2014 @09:32PM
(#8261116)
I visited La Silla last December[0] whilst traveling around South America. It was a few hours' drive up from La Serena, along some quite windy roads, but definitely worth it. You have to book by email in advance.
[0] https://twitter.com/marcosscriven/status/409787993617342464
Yes, Paranal provides regular tours for visitors.