[meteorite-list] Site in Northern Chile Selected for Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu May 18 12:17:51 2006
Message-ID: <200605181615.JAA25250_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.lsst.org/News/site_selection.shtml

May 17, 2006
RELEASE LSSTC-04

Site in Northern Chile Selected for Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

Cerro Pachon, an 8,800-foot (2,682-meter) mountain peak in northern
Chile, has been selected as the site for the proposed Large Synoptic
Survey Telescope (LSST).

Additional images for this LSST Press Release can be found at:
http://www.lsst.org/News/LSSTC_04.shtml

Scheduled to see "first light" in 2012, the 8.4-meter LSST will be able
to survey the entire visible sky every three nights with its
three-billion pixel digital camera, probing the mysteries of Dark Matter
and Dark Energy, and opening a movie-like window on objects that change
or move on rapid timescales: exploding supernovae, potentially hazardous
near-Earth asteroids as small as 100 meters, and distant Kuiper Belt
Objects.

The decision to place the LSST on Cerro Pachon follows a two-year
campaign of in-depth testing and analysis of the atmospheric conditions
and quality of astronomical "seeing" at four sites in Chile, Mexico, and
the Canary Islands. The eleven members of the Site Selection Committee,
chaired by Marc Sarazin from the European Southern Observatory, reviewed
detailed proposals from two final sites, San Pedro M?rtir in Baja
California, Mexico, and Cerro Pachon, regarding their suitability for
the project. The final selection of Cerro Pachon was made by the LSST
Corporation Board of Directors based on a recommendation from the Site
Selection Committee.

Important factors when considering a site for the LSST include the
number of clear nights per year, seasonal weather patterns, and the
quality of images as seen through the local atmosphere. The chosen site
also needed to have an existing observatory infrastructure and access to
fiber optic links, to accommodate the anticipated 30 terabytes of data
LSST will produce each night.

Universidad de Chile Director Leonardo Bronfman said "Chilean
astronomers are enthusiastic about having the LSST sited in Chile and
participating in its development and operation. We have unparalleled
access to a wide suite of facilities in Chile, and are eager to utilize
these resources to complement the strengths of LSST."

"The LSST will be the World's most powerful survey telescope and demands
a superb site. We finally had a difficult decision between two wonderful
sites at Cerro Pachon in Chile and San Pedro M?rtir in Mexico. It's too
bad we can't build two telescopes - one in each hemisphere." said Donald
Sweeney, LSST Project Manager. "The final decision was influenced by the
existing infrastructure at Cerro Pachon and the array of synergistic
facilities in the south." Cerro Pachon is already home to the Gemini
South 8-meter telescope and the SOAR 4.1-meter telescope. LSST will be
located on a peak on Cerro Pachon named El Penon.

"Siting LSST in Chile leverages the significant multi-wavelength
astronomy investments already there," said University of California,
Davis, Professor and LSST Director J. Anthony Tyson. "LSST will change
the way we observe the universe by mapping the visible sky deeply,
rapidly, and continuously. LSST will open entirely new windows on our
universe, yielding discoveries in a variety of areas of astronomy and
fundamental physics."

More information about the LSST including current images, graphics, and
animation can be found at http://www.lsst.org.

In 2003, The University of Arizona, Research Corporation, the National
Optical Astronomy Observatory, and the University of Washington formed
the LSST Corporation, a non-profit 501(c)3 Arizona corporation, with
headquarters in Tucson, AZ. Membership has expanded to include
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Kavli Institute for Particle
Astrophysics and Cosmology - Stanford University, Las Cumbres
Observatory Inc., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Stanford
Linear Accelerator Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University
of California at Davis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and
University of Pennsylvania.

The LSST research and development effort is funded in part by the
National Science Foundation under Scientific Program Order No. 9
(AST-0551161) through Cooperative Agreement AST-0132798. Additional
funding comes from private donations, in-kind support at Department of
Energy laboratories and other LSSTC Institutional Members.

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Science Contact Information:

J. Anthony Tyson, LSST Director; 530-752-3830, tyson_at_lsst.org
Donald Sweeney, LSST Project Manager; 520-661-9247; sweeney_at_lsst.org

Media Contact Information:
Suzanne Jacoby, LSST Corporation; 520-881-2626; sjacoby_at_lsst.org

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Received on Thu 18 May 2006 12:15:43 PM PDT