14
SPACE CHRONICLESLa Silla 50
th
anniversary
culminates with
total solar eclipse
by ESO
A
t 16 : 40 CLT, the Moon covered the face
of the Sun, in a total solar eclipse visible
from a 150 - km-wide swathe of northern
Chile, including ESO’s La Silla Observatory,
which celebrated half a century of astronomical
research this year.
ESO, in collaboration with the Government of
Chile, organised an outreach campaign that gave
people the opportunity to experience this rare
phenomenon from La Silla Observatory itself.
1000 visitors had access to the site, including more
than 30 high school students and 30 senior citi-
zens from La Serena, La Higuera and Coquimbo,
the districts neighbouring the Observatory.
Another group of students came to La Silla from
all over Chile. The youngsters were selected
through a contest organised in collaboration withchronicles EN_l'Astrofilo 29/08/2019 15:56 Page 14