ESO Houses 100-Plus Astronomers in Atacama Desert Residencia at 2,000m
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Jun 11
ESO Houses 100-Plus Astronomers in Atacama Desert Residencia at 2,000m
1 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Jun 11
Summary
100-plus rooms at ESO’s Residencia are reserved for astronomers and engineers working at Chile’s Paranal observatory, where the BBC found a hotel built specifically to support research in the Atacama Desert.
2,000m above sea level, the facility counters extreme dryness with a humid, plant-filled atrium and pool, while banning alcohol and limiting outdoor exertion because of dehydration, altitude and intense UV exposure.
Darkness shapes the building’s design: cars switch off main headlights, torches must point downward, room windows are minimal and the atrium dome is covered at night to avoid light pollution affecting telescopes.
Nearby, day-shift staff maintain the Very Large Telescope and plan observations, while engineers work on the Extremely Large Telescope 20km away before night crews take over under one of Earth’s clearest skies.
2008 Bond film Quantum of Solace used the futuristic complex as a villain’s lair, but ESO’s site is better known for discoveries ranging from exoplanet imaging to research on the Milky Way’s central black hole.