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La Silla Observatory
TRAPPIST-South Coordinates (I40):
Latitude: 29º 15' 16.588 (S) / 29,2546 (S)
Longitude: 70º 44' 21.818 (W) / 70,7394 (W)
Altitude: 2315 m
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ocated in the Atacama Desert, at an altitude of 2400 m and 600 km North of Santiago, the La Silla observatory offers excellent observing conditions. There are some 300 clear nights per year, a very good stability of the atmosphere (low turbulence) and a low humidity level. It is thus not surprising that the Atacama Desert hosts several astronomical observatories, among which the Paranal Observatory hosting the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), the Cerro Tololo and Las Campanas US observatories, ALMA, the very large radio interferometer and the European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), which is expected to get its first light in 2025.
