Overview
Paranal Observatory offers public visits only on Saturdays, at 10:00 or at 2:00 p.m., in regular service. We will leave 3 hours before from Antofagasta (from the hotel or airport), and on the way we will visit La Mano del Desierto, by Mario Irarrázaval, which consists a eleven meters high concrete sculpture, representing a left hand. According to its creator, it symbolises a primitive and magical force, which seeks to move from the reflection on life and death. After this visit we will continue to Paranal, the most advanced visible light observatory in the world, located at 2,600 feet high, where you can experience strong winds and extreme temperatures. Here we will conduct a guided tour of the facilities used by scientists from different countries, who wait for years to analyse the information provided by the Very Large Telescope, VLT (Very Large Telescope). The VLT consists of four main telescopes with a primary mirror of 8.2 meters in diameter plus four mobile auxiliary telescopes of 1.8 meters in diameter. The four main telescopes have names taken from the Mapuche language: Antú (Sun), Kueyén (Luna), Melipal (Southern Cross) and Yepún (Venus).
Notes: the tour can be combined with a night astronomical observation, and with a transfer out to Calama or to San Pedro de Atacama.
Duration: 8 hours.
-Regular tour departs everyday, all year long.
-Private tour departure schedule is coordinated previously with the passenger depending on their availability.
