THE ATACAMA DESERT, Chile — It takes a second for the eyes to regulate. A faint spark seems within the darkness; then one other, brighter one. Quickly, stars, planets and full constellations emerge. Earlier than lengthy, an entire galaxy stretches throughout the sky, seen to the bare eye.
In Chile’s Atacama Desert, the evening sky feels infinite. Thought-about the driest place on Earth, its darkness can also be one of many clearest home windows to the universe.
A uncommon mixture of dry local weather, excessive altitude and, crucially, isolation from city gentle air pollution, makes the Atacama an unmatched hub for world-class astronomy and residential to the world’s largest ground-based astronomical tasks.
“The circumstances within the Atacama Desert are distinctive on the planet,” mentioned Chiara Mazzucchelli, president of the Chilean Astronomical Society. “There are greater than 300 clear nights per yr, that means no clouds and no rain.”
However the world’s darkest skies could also be in danger.
Final yr, the desert turned a battleground between scientists and an vitality agency proposing a inexperienced energy advanced simply kilometers (miles) from the Paranal Observatory. Managed by the European Southern Observatory, ESO, the location is also the longer term dwelling to what’s to be probably the most highly effective optical telescope ever constructed.
Though the vitality challenge was canceled in January following an enormous attraction from astronomers, physicists and Nobel laureates, it uncovered deep issues that present sky preservation legal guidelines are lax, outdated and unclear. Since then, a number of environmental rules have come underneath evaluate, together with one from Chile’s science ministry focusing on protected astronomical zones.
“We’re working to make sure the brand new standards are strict sufficient to ensure that there will probably be no impression on astronomical areas,” mentioned Daniela González, director of the Cielos de Chile Basis, a nonprofit based in 2019 to guard the standard of Chile’s evening skies.
The Related Press spent three days visiting the Paranal amenities within the coronary heart of the so-called Photon Valley. On this high-altitude hall, a number of observatories function aspect by aspect utilizing a few of the most subtle devices ever engineered.
“Many of those giant amenities are positioned in Chile, and ESO’s telescopes particularly are probably the most highly effective astronomical amenities on the planet,” mentioned Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo, the intergovernmental group’s consultant in Chile.
Paranal is considered one of practically 30 astronomical websites in northern Chile, most of that are managed by worldwide organizations. Yearly, the Atacama Desert attracts hundreds of astronomers and scientists from world wide to analyze the origins of the universe.
“We’re fortunate to be right here,” mentioned Julia Bodensteiner, an assistant professor at College of Amsterdam, noting that the possibilities of being chosen as a visiting astronomer at Paranal are simply 20% to 30%.
Strolling throughout the Atacama’s rocky, uneven terrain isn’t any straightforward job. At altitudes exceeding 3,000 meters (10,000 toes), oxygen turns into a luxurious, whereas scorching days give solution to relentlessly chilly nights. However for area remark and exploration, these greater than 105,000 sq. kilometers (40,500 sq. miles) of desert are the right setting.
The distinctive circumstances of the Atacama have enabled a few of the most bold astronomical tasks ever conceived, just like the Extraordinarily Giant Telescope, ELT — a $1.5 billion endeavor by ESO scheduled for completion in 2030.
With 798 mirrors and a light-gathering space of practically 1,000 sq. meters (1 / 4 of an acre), the ELT will probably be 20 occasions extra highly effective than immediately’s main telescopes and 15 occasions sharper than NASA’s Hubble Area Telescope.
All the info compiled at these observatories play a elementary position not just for life on Earth, but additionally for the probabilities of its improvement past our planet. Preserving these analysis spots is crucial.
With the ELT, mentioned ESO astronomer Lucas Bordone, “we must always be capable to see Earth-like planets in what we name the liveable zone, so principally the planets that are candidates in direction of life.”
Twenty years in the past, the Atacama Desert was “an ocean of darkness,” recalled Eduardo Unda-Sanzana, director of the Astronomy Heart on the College of Antofagasta. “It was simply you and the universe.”
Over time, nevertheless, the panorama has modified drastically.
Pushed by city sprawl, industrial improvement, and the arrival of mining and wind farms, the desert has change into a coveted territory the place stability shouldn’t be all the time straightforward to succeed in.
In Paranal, specialists dwell like moles in an underground residence designed to maintain their presence virtually undetectable. Home windows should stay lined, hallways keep darkish, and any exterior motion is guided solely by flashlight. Even the faintest gentle can intrude with the telescopes.
The announcement final yr of an imminent inexperienced vitality challenge despatched shock waves by the worldwide scientific group. Consultants pressured authorities to guard Chile’s evening sky from the proposed web site, which was slated for building simply 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Paranal.
The case raised the alarms because of its impacts, resembling elevated gentle air pollution, micro-vibrations and dirt, in addition to better atmospheric turbulence. These circumstances would make astronomical actions unviable.
“When you place the ELT subsequent to a metropolis, it doesn’t matter that its diameter is 40 meters lengthy. It’s simply the identical as having a tiny telescope,” Gregorio-Monsalvo mentioned.
Though the corporate canceled the challenge in late January, scientists warn that with out new, up to date rules, comparable tasks may very well be proposed at any second.
“Regardless of all of the media hype in 2025, we discover ourselves precisely the place we had been final yr,” mentioned Unda-Sanzana, who can also be a part of a ministerial advisory fee that lately delivered suggestions to Chile’s authorities following the incident.
There isn’t any scarcity of precedents. The primary worldwide heliophysics observatory in Chile — a serious photo voltaic station operated by the U.S. Smithsonian Establishment within the early twentieth century — was compelled to close down operations in 1955 because of environmental air pollution attributable to the enlargement of mining exercise within the space.
“We’ve had 70 years to be taught from historical past and keep away from repeating those self same errors,” Unda-Sanzana mentioned.
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