The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has warned that an “industrial megaproject” threatens the skies over the Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile, considered the darkest in the world and one of the most important “astronomical treasures.”
The project threatening the darkest skies
This megaproject, planned to be located between 5 and 11 kilometers from the Paranal telescopes, could cause “irreparable damage to astronomical observations, particularly due to light pollution emitted throughout the project’s operational life,” ESO stated in a release.
AES Andes, a subsidiary of the US electric company AES Corporation, submitted on the 24th for environmental impact assessment, the project for an industrial complex spanning over 3,000 hectares. This project includes the construction of a port, ammonia and hydrogen production plants, and thousands of electricity generation units near Paranal.
ESO ensures that relocating this project “remains the only effective way to avoid irreversible damage to Paranal’s unique skies,” preserving the future of astronomy. ESO’s Director General, Xavier Barcons, stated that a project of this nature “so close to Paranal represents a critical risk to the planet’s most pristine night skies.”
Environmental and scientific consequences
Dust emissions during construction, increased atmospheric turbulence, and especially light pollution “will have an irreparable impact on astronomical observation capabilities, which have so far attracted multimillion-dollar investments from ESO Member States’ governments,” they added.
The Paranal Observatory in Atacama
The Paranal Observatory, built and operated by ESO, has led to significant astronomical advances, such as the first image of an exoplanet and confirmation of the accelerated expansion of the universe, in addition to being a key asset for the global astronomical community, including Chile’s.
Its observations were crucial for research on the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, which earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2020.
Furthermore, the nearby Cerro Armazones hosts the construction of the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) by ESO, the world’s largest telescope of its kind, a revolutionary facility that will drastically change our understanding of the Universe.
Atacama is “a unique natural laboratory for astronomical research” due to its atmospheric stability and dark skies, essential features for projects addressing issues such as the origin and evolution of the universe or the search for life and habitability on other planets, as highlighted by ESO.
ESO’s representative in Chile, Itziar de Gregorio, stated that it is “crucial to consider alternative locations” for the mentioned industrial project that “do not endanger one of the world’s most important astronomical treasures.”
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