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ESO

2 months ago •

ESO
2 months ago •

The skies of Chile’s Atacama Desert, renowned as the darkest and clearest of the world, are now at risk from an industrial megaproject.

Electricity company AES Andes proposed to locate a large-scale industrial complex just a few kilometres away from our Paranal Observatory. If constructed, the resulting dust emissions, increased atmospheric turbulence, and especially light #pollution, would irreparably impact the capabilities for astronomical observation.

We urge the involved parties, specifically AES Andes, to work with the Government of #Chile to relocate this megaproject to a zone compatible with industrial development without jeopardising the skies of Paranal.

📷 ESO/P. Horálek

#environment #astrodon #astronomy #science

A view of the Milky Way arching across the night sky above the Atacama Desert in Chile. The foreground features the buildings of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), with a person standing on a raised platform. A sign saying "skies at risk" is overlaid on the image.

World's darkest and clearest skies at risk from industrial megaproject

On December 24th, AES Andes, a subsidiary of the US power company AES Corporation, submitted a project for a massive industrial complex for environmental impact assessment.

^www.eso.org

#environment #science #Chile #pollution #Astronomy #astrodon

This entry was edited (2 months ago)

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