Chile can be considered astronomy's world capital. In 2011, Chile was home to 42% of the world's astronomical infrastructure consisting mostly of telescopes, and by 2020 it will contain around 70% of the global infrastructure. In the Atacama desert region located at northern Chile, the skies are exceptionally clear and dry for more than 300 days a year. These optimal conditions have attracted the world's scientific community to develop in the Atacama desert the most ambitious astronomical projects in the history of mankind.
Chile welcomes a diverse and active astronomical community that includes Chilean and international professionals and others, such as astronomers, engineers, students, teachers and amateurs.
The first documented testimony of an astronomical measurement done in Chile is the observation of a lunar eclipse by the soldier Pedro Cuadrado Chavino (June 1582). He used a classic Greek method to obtain the latitude of the city of Valdivia based on the eclipse's measurements. In 1849, during the government of Manuel Bulnes, a scientific mission from the U.S. navy run by James M. Gilliss arrived to Chile for observing Venus and Mars to calculate the Earth-Sun distance. The Gilliss mission established the first astronomical observatory in the Cerro Santa Lucia (Santiago). In 1852, the facilities were transferred to Chile and the National Astronomical Observatory was created. During the second half of the 20th century, observatories from the U.S. and Europe were installed in different locations at the north of the country: La Silla, Cerro Tololo, Las Campanas and later Cerro Paranal, Cerro Pachon and Chajnantor.
Center for Excellence in Astrophysics and Associated Technologies, CATA Spanish & EnglishCATA is the largest Chilean project of R&D in astronomy’s technologies. It’s located in Calán Hill (Cerro Calán), in Santiago, Chile. This center brings together the largest amount of astronomers in Chile from three universities: Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Concepción. CATA develops nine different areas: 6 focused in scientific research, 3 focused on technology advances, and 1 on Education & Outreach (to students, teachers and general public).
Millennium Center for Supernova Science Spanish & EnglishThis Center its mainly dedicated to supernovae research, it gathers astronomers from: Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad Andrés Bello.
Center of Astrophysics FONDAP SpanishCentre of Astrophysics ValparaisoChilean Astronomical Society (SOCHIAS) (Spanish)Astronomy Group, University of La Serena (Spanish)Unidad de Astronomía, Universidad de Antofagasta (Spanish)Program in Physics mention in Astronomy, Universidad Católica del NorteAstronomy Department, Universidad de Chile (Spanish & English)Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Universidad Católica de Chile (English & Spanish)Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of ValparaísoDepartamento de Astronomía Universidad Andrés Bello. (Spanish)Group of Earth and Space Science, University of Santiago. (Spanish)Astronomy Department, Universidad de Concepción. (Spanish and English)Cerro Los Condores Observatory (Atacama Region)Cerro Mayu Observatory (Coquimbo Region)Cerro Mamalluca Observatory (Coquimbo Region)Cerro Collowara Observatory (Coquimbo Region)Astronomical Society of Valparaiso and Viña (SAVAL) (Valparaiso Region)Department of Astronomy (RASTRO), University of Concepcion (Bio-Bio Region)Chilean Association of Astronomy and Astronautics (ACHAYA) (Metropolitan Region)Metropolitan Amateur Astronomical Society (Metropolitan Region)Carnegie ObservatoriesEuropean Southern Observatory (ESO)National Optical Astronomical Observatories [NOAO], USA)National Radioastronomical Observatories (NRAO, USA)Chilean National Astronomical Observatory (Spanish)Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory: NOAO telescopes, SMART consortium, GONG, PROMPT, ALPACA.Cerro Pachon Observatory: Gemini Observatory, SOAR Telescope.Llano de Chajnantor Observatory: Cosmic Background Imager (CBI), Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), Q/U Imaging ExperimenT QUIET,Pampa La Bola and Purico Complex: Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment (ASTE), NANTEN2 ObservatoryParanal Observatory: Very Large Telescope (VLT), Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA Telescope).Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA)La Silla Observatory: ESO telescopes,Las Campanas Observatory: Carnegie telescopes, Magellan telescopes, Birmingham Solar Oscillations NetworkCerro El Roble ObservatoryManuel Foster ObservatoryTIGO (Transportable Integrated Geodetic Observatory)Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) to be located at Las Campanas Observatory.European Extremely Large Telescope: Cerro Armazones.Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) to be located in Cerro Pachon Observatory (El Peñón).Overwhelmingly Large Telescope: not confirmed location. Potential sites in Chile are located in Antofagasta region.Further information on Extremely large telescope.
Light Pollution Office (OPCC): depends on the Comision Nacional de Medio Ambiente (CONAMA) and the international observatories.IDA-Chile: National section of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).Astronomy Bachelor (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)Astronomy Bachelor (Universidad de Chile)Astronomy Bachelor (Universidad de Concepcion)Bachelor in Physics, mention in Astronomy (Universidad de Valparaíso)Bachelor in Physics with mention in Astronomy (Universidad Andrés Bello)Bachelor in Physics, mention in Astronomy (Universidad de la Serena)Bachelor in Physics, mention in Astronomy (Universidad Católica del Norte)Master in Astronomy (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)Master in Astronomy (Universidad de La Serena)Ph.D in Astronomy (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)Master in Astronomy (Universidad de Chile)Ph.D. in Astronomy (Universidad de Chile)Master in Astronomy (Universidad de Concepción)Ph.D. in Astronomy (Universidad de Concepción)CADIASEducation and Outreach. Astronomy Department, University of Concepcion.In Chile there are more than 100 astronomers, some are:
Alejandro Clocchiatti (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) Main Research Areas: Supernova and High-Performance Computing, member of the "High-Z Supernova Search Team". For this work the PI of the team, Brian P. Schmidt, was awarded the Physics Nobel Prize in 2011 for the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the Universe.Mario Hamuy (Universidad de Chile). Main Research Areas: Supernovae, Distance Scale, Observational Cosmology. Main Awards: Guggenheim Scholarship (2011) Hamuy is the second most cited scientist in Chile, and the most cited Chilean astronomer according to is SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System. (Until June 2011)Dante Minitti (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) Main Research Area: Birth & Evolution of Structures in the UniverseJosé Maza (Universidad de Chile). Main Research Area: Supernovae. Main Award: National Prize for Exact Sciences (1999)Leopoldo Infante, (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile) Main Research Areas: Birth & Evolution of Structures in the Universe, Star Populations.María Teresa Ruiz (Universidad de Chile): Main Research Area: Brown Dwarfs. Main Award: National Prize for Exact Sciences (1997)Guido Garay (Universidad de Chile) Main Research Area: Star FormationLuis Barrera, (UMCE)Leonardo Bronfman, (Universidad de Chile) Main Research Areas: Molecular Clouds, Star Formation & Galactic and Structure, Astronomical InstrumentationDouglas Geisler (Universidad de Concepción)Wolfgang Gieren (Universidad de Concepción)Ronald Mennnickent (Universidad de Concepción)Marcelo Mora, (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)Ramirez, Amelia (U. La Serena): dynamics and evolution of galaxies, galaxy groups and clusters.Munoz Ferrada, Carlos: (former Director of the Astronomical Observatory of Panama) Main Research Area: GeodynamicsSeguel, Juan (CTIO): site testing of potentian astronomical places.Amateur astronomers and teachers
Gomez, Arturo: discoverer of the Gomez's Hamburger, a protoplanetary disk around a young low mass star.Jimenez, Carmen Gloria: teacher and psychologist working as Educational and Outreach Expert for the Astronomy Department of the Universidad de Concepcion. She is widely known for participating in the NASA's program "Teachers in Space" with chances to visit the International Space Station or participate as ground-based support for space missions of teachers.Picetti, Battista: physics and astronomy teacher in the Seminario Conciliar de La Serena. He won the Michael Faraday Award for the Best Physics Teacher in 2007. Father Picetti is also the creator of El Tololito (La Serena) and Cerro Mayu ObservatoryPlanetarium of the Universidad de Santiago (Santiago)Gemini's Mobible Planetariums (La Serena)Publications and books
Supernovas, José Maza, Mario Hamuy.Hijos de las estrellas, Maria Ruiz. ISBN 978-956-304-037-1Astronomía Contemporánea, José MazaMundos lejanos, Dante Minniti.Con ojos de gigantes: la observación astronómica en el siglo XXI, L. Felipe Barrientos y Sebastian Lopez, Ediciones B. 2008thisisChile.cl - Chile Official Website - Astronomy in ChileChile_trip Yahoo! Group extensive collection of astronomy & travel resources in Chile 
