Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory


Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

(sā`rō tōlō`lō), astronomical observatoryobservatory,
scientific facility especially equipped to detect and record naturally occurring scientific phenomena. Although geological and meteorological observatories exist, the term is generally applied to astronomical observatories.
..... Click the link for more information.  located on Cerro Tololo peak, Chile, with offices in La Serena, about 40 mi (64 km) to the west. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), it is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), which also operates such other major national observatories as the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. The principal instrument is a 158-in. (4-m) reflecting telescope, the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and the twin of the 158-in. (4-m) reflector at Kitt Peak. Other equipment of the observatory includes 60-in. (1.5-m), 36-in. (0.9-m), and twin 16-in. (0.4-m) reflectors and the 24-in. (0.6-m) Curtis-Schmidt camera formerly at the Univ. of Michigan. Also at Cerro Tololo, a half mile from the summit, is a 24-in. (0.6-m) reflector belonging to the Lowell Observatory. Additional telescopes are planned for the 1990s, including a 161 in. (4.1-m) telescope from Columbia Univ. and a new 26-ft (8-m) reflector.

Cerro Tololo Inter–American Observatory

(se -roh toh-loh -loh) (CTIO) A US observatory near La Serena, Chile, at an altitude of 2200 meters. It is run by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), which operates through the National Optical Astronomical Observatory. Its principal instruments are a 4-meter reflecting telescope, the Victor Blanco Telescope, which began operating in 1976, and two smaller reflectors, one 1.5 meters in aperture and the other 0.9 meter. The 4-meter telescope has a Cer-Vit primary mirror, with Cassegrain (f/8), infrared (f/30), and prime (f/2.7) foci, on an equatorial mounting. The observatory also operates a Schmidt telescope at this site. Nearby Cerro Pachón is the location of the Gemini South telescope (see Gemini telescopes) and the SOAR Telescope.