Cerro Paranal

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Cerro Paranal
On the left the blasted summit with the observatory

On the left the blasted summit with the observatory

height 2635  m
( 2660  m before the summit is blown)
location Atacama Desert , Chile
Coordinates 24 ° 37 '33 "  S , 70 ° 24' 11"  W Coordinates: 24 ° 37 '33 "  S , 70 ° 24' 11"  W.
Cerro Paranal (Chile)
Cerro Paranal

The Cerro Paranal is a mountain in the north of Chile in the Atacama desert . The mountain is about 120 km south of Antofagasta and 12 km from the coast. It houses the Paranal Observatory of the European Southern Observatory .

The atmosphere above the summit is characterized by dry and exceptionally calm air currents, which makes the mountain a very attractive location for an astronomical observatory . The summit was blown down from its original height of 2660 m to 2635 m in the early 1990s to create a plateau for the telescopes .

With a seeing of 0.18 arc seconds, the location achieved the best value ever measured.

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