13 MAY 2019: You don’t need to know much Spanish to grasp the meaning of a sign as we start our perilous zigzag climb up a cactus-covered mountain in Chile. Precaucion: Zona de curvas y pendientes fuertes. Caution, curves and steep slopes, or more to the point: If you miss a turn, it’s a long, long way down.
Our goal is a unique scientific complex whose telescopes are discovering distant galaxies and unravelling the mysteries of black holes and supernovas. The Cerro Tololo Observatory was built atop this desolate mountain in northern Chile’s desert because of its unique climate that boasts Cielo mas limpio del Mundo: the clearest skies in the world. More than 200 absolutely cloudless nights a year are guaranteed. There’s no haze in the atmosphere to create distortion and no towns with electric lights for 50 miles in any direction.
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