Free_Astronomy_-_SeptemberOctober_2019

SPACE CHRONICLES 17

T

he visitors ranged

from local school chil-

dren to international

tourists, brought together

to view the unusual and

spectacular event at one

of the world’s leading as-

tronomical observatories.

[ESO/Romain Lucchesi]

fect view of the solar

eclipse.” Joining the many

visitors at La Silla was the

President of the Republic

of Chile, Sebastián Piñera,

who was welcomed by

ESO’s Director General,

Xavier Barcons.

“We are delighted that

the President chose to join

us at La Silla on this very

special day,”said Xavier

Barcons. “The eclipse hap-

pened on the 50 thanniversary of La

Silla, an occasion to celebrate the

strong and productive partnership

between Chile and ESO. La Silla has

played an extremely important role

in the development of astronomy in

Europe and Chile, and Chilean as-

tronomers routinely use telescopes

in La Silla for their scientific re-

search.”

La Silla has been an ESO stronghold

since the 1960 s. Here, ESO operates

two of the most productive 4 - metre-

class telescopes in the world.

The 3. 58 - metre New Technology

Telescope (NTT) broke new ground

in telescope engineering and design

and was the first in the world to

have a computer-controlled main

mirror (active optics), technology de-

veloped at ESO and now applied to

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