SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) \u2014 Chile\u2019s Atacama Desert is one of the darkest spots on Earth, a crown jewel for astronomers who flock to study the origins of the universe in this inhospitable desert along the Pacific coast.<\/p>\n
A rare confluence of factors makes the Atacama an ideal home for some of the world\u2019s biggest ground-based astronomical projects<\/a> \u2014 dry climate<\/a>, high altitude and, crucially, isolation from the light pollution<\/a> of civilization.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect cocktail for astronomy,\u201d said Daniela Gonz\u00e1lez, executive director of the Skies of Chile Foundation, a nonprofit that defends the quality of the country\u2019s night skies. <\/p>\n But that may not be the case for much longer, a group of leading scientists warned in an open letter<\/a> to Chile\u2019s government released Tuesday. <\/p>\n A private company is pressing ahead with plans to construct a giant renewable energy complex in sight of one of Earth\u2019s most productive astronomical facilities \u2014 the Paranal Observatory<\/a>, operated by an international consortium known as the European Southern Observatory, or ESO.<\/p>\n In the letter, 30 renowned international astronomers, including Reinhard Genzel, a 2020 Nobel laureate in astrophysics<\/a> who conducted much of his prize-winning research on black holes with the ESO-operated telescopes in the Atacama Desert, describe the project as \u201can imminent threat\u201d to humanity\u2019s ability to study the cosmos, and unlock more of its unknowns.<\/p>\n \u201cThe damage would extend beyond Chile\u2019s borders, affecting a worldwide scientific community that relies on observations made at Paranal to study everything from the formation of planets to the early universe,\u201d the letter reads. <\/p>\n \u201cWe are convinced that economic development and scientific progress can and must coexist to the benefit of all people in Chile, but not at the irreversible expense of one of Earth\u2019s unique and irreplaceable windows to the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n The scientists join a chorus of voices that have been urging the Chilean government to relocate the hydrogen-based fuel production plant since the plan was unveiled a year ago by AES Andes, an offshoot of the American-based multinational AES Corp. <\/p>\n In response to a request for comment, AES Corp. said that its own technical studies showed the project would be fully compatible with astronomical observations and compliant with the Chilean government\u2019s strict regulations on light pollution. <\/p>\n \u201cWe encourage trust in the country\u2019s institutional strength, which for decades has guaranteed certainty and environmental protection for multiple productive sectors,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n The plan, which is still under environmental review, calls for 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of wind and solar energy farms, a desalination plant and a new port. <\/p>\n That means not only a major increase in light pollution but also new dust, ground vibrations and heightened atmospheric turbulence that blurs stars and makes them twinkle. All of that \u2014 just 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from the Paranal Observatory\u2019s high-powered telescopes<\/a> \u2014 will mess the view of key astronomical targets and could obstruct scientific advances, experts say. <\/p>\n \u201cAt the best sites in the world for astronomy, stars don\u2019t twinkle. They are very stable, and even the smallest artificial turbulence would destroy these characteristics,\u201d said Andreas Kaufer, the director of operations at ESO, which assesses that the AES project would increase light pollution by 35%.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the sky is becoming brighter from artificial light around us, we cannot do these observations anymore. They\u2019re lost. And, since we have the biggest and most sensitive telescopes at the best spot in the world, if they\u2019re lost for us, they\u2019re lost for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n Although this controversy might be specific to Chile, home to 40% of the world\u2019s astronomy infrastructure<\/a>, the project reflects the wider tension between natural darkness and industrialization tearing at countless countries<\/a> as light pollution makes the night sky about 10% brighter each year<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cMajor observatories have been chased out to remote locations, and essentially now they\u2019re chased out to some of the last remaining dark sky locations on Earth, like the Atacama Desert, the mountain peaks of Hawaii, areas around Tucson, Arizona,\u201d said Ruskin Hartley, the executive director of DarkSky International, a Tuscon-based nonprofit founded by astronomers. <\/p>\n \u201cAll of them are now at risk from encroaching development and mining. It\u2019s happening everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n DeBre reported from Buenos Aires, Argentina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) \u2014 Chile\u2019s Atacama Desert is one of the darkest spots on Earth, a crown jewel…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":421268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[196731,4514,64,1613,4515,10109,10106,196732,57,1612,27902,2128,5165,866,159,4217,783,167,67,132,68,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-421267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-andreas-kaufer","9":"tag-astronomy","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-central-america","12":"tag-chile","13":"tag-climate","14":"tag-climate-and-environment","15":"tag-daniela-gonzlez","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-latin-america","18":"tag-planets","19":"tag-pollution","20":"tag-reinhard-genzel","21":"tag-renewable-energy","22":"tag-science","23":"tag-south-america","24":"tag-space","25":"tag-space-exploration","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-unitedstates","28":"tag-us","29":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115654334065534177","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}