Astronomical milestone! Chile chosen to install the first gamma ray observatory in the southern hemisphere
An international consortium selected Chile over Argentina and Peru to install the observatory.
Great news continues to arrive for Chile in the field of science. Following the recent announcement that Chile will host the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly, the largest astronomy event in the world, today we learned that we have also been selected to install the first gamma ray observatory in the southern hemisphere.
According to Science Minister Aisén Etcheverry, together with the director of the National Research and Development Agency (ANID), Alejandra Pizarro, and Chile’s representative to the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-Ray Observatory (SWGO) steering committee, Claudio Dib, Chile prevailed over Argentina and Peru, who also aspired to house this important scientific infrastructure.
“News like this also brings economic benefits. Here we are talking about an investment of around US$60 million, which joins other projects with similar figures. It also impacts our economy in other related areas. An example of this is the International Astronomical Summit that Chile will host in 2030. We are talking about 3,000 scientists who will visit our country and have a positive impact on tourism, on the positioning of the Chilean technology industry and on the science that is done in Chile,” Aisén Etcheverry, Science Minister.
Characteristics of the gamma ray observatory
The observatory will be built in San Pedro de Atacama, at an altitude of 4,700 meters, near the Alma radio telescope.
This scientific facility, unique in the global south, will allow the study of gamma rays emitted by black holes, neutron stars and supernovas, whose particles will be captured in 3,000 water tanks that will be installed in the Atacama Astronomical Park.
These sealed water tanks are capable of detecting gamma rays of very high and ultra-high energy generated by the most violent processes in the Universe, such as black holes, neutron stars, gamma ray bursts and supernovae.
Although this type of radiation does not reach the Earth’s surface, SWGO detectors capture particles that produce radiation upon entering the water tanks, which are recorded by photodetectors installed inside them.
By recording these cascades of secondary particles using many detector units simultaneously, each individual gamma ray can be traced back to its cosmic source, allowing a map of the sky to be created.
