La Silla Observatory
Europe's first observatory in Chile, opened in 1969 and still finding planets from a desert ridge.
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La Silla was the first site the European Southern Observatory built in Chile, at 2,400 metres on the southern edge of the Atacama, with the first telescopes working from 1969. Its instruments have done a great deal of the work that made Chile the centre of world astronomy: the HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6 metre telescope has found a very large share of the known exoplanets by the radial velocity method, and the site was also where the light curve of supernova 1987A was followed. Public visits run on Saturdays outside the busiest observing periods, by advance booking and free of charge; they are daytime tours, not observing sessions.
What you actually see
- ESO's first Chilean site - telescopes working from 1969.
- The HARPS spectrograph - a major source of known exoplanets.
- A ridge at 2,400 metres - on the southern Atacama edge.
- Free Saturday tours - by advance booking only.
When to go
Year round on scheduled Saturdays, booked ahead. Half a day.
Honest expectations
Tours are in daylight and there is no observing - you will not look through a telescope. Places are limited and book out. The mountain road is long and unsurfaced in parts. Visits are suspended in some periods.
Nearby
La Serena and the Elqui valley are south; Vallenar is north.
What to pack for La Silla Observatory
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.
