Leoncito Astronomical Complex
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The El Leoncito Astronomical Complex (Spanish: Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito - CASLEO) is an
astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...
observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysics, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. Th ...
in the San Juan Province of
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. CASLEO is one of two observatories located within
El Leoncito National Park El Leoncito National Park () is a federal protected area in San Juan Province, Argentina. Established on 18 September 2002, it houses a representative sample of the Central Andean Puna and the Southern Andean steppe biodiversity in good state ...
, which is in a part of the country which rarely sees cloud cover. The other facility in the park is the Carlos U. Cesco Astronomical Station of the Félix Aguilar Observatory. CASLEO was established in 1983 by an agreement between
National Scientific and Technical Research Council The National Scientific and Technical Research Council (, CONICET) is an Argentina, Argentine Government of Argentina, government agency which directs and co-ordinates most of the scientific and technical research done in List of universities i ...
(CONICET) of Argentina, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MINCYT) of Argentina, the National University of San Juan (UNSJ), the
National University of La Plata The National University of La Plata (, UNLP) is a national public research university located in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It has over 90,000 regular students, 10,000 teaching staff, 17 departments and 10 ...
(UNLP), and the
National University of Córdoba The National University of Córdoba (), is a public university located in the city of Córdoba, Argentina. Founded in 1613, the university is the oldest in Argentina, the third oldest university of the Americas, with the first university being ...
(UNC). The facility was dedicated in 1986 and regular observations began in 1987. CASLEO's telescopes are located in two separate areas within the El Leoncito Park. The Jorge Sahade and Submillimeter telescopes are at the main site on the edge of the Pampa de la Ciénaga del Medio, along with support facilities. The Helen Sawyer Hogg telescope, Ghielimetti telescope, and the
Astrograph An astrograph (or astrographic camera) is a telescope designed for the sole purpose of astrophotography. Astrographs are mostly used in wide-field astronomical surveys of the sky and for detection of objects such as asteroids, meteors, an ...
for the Southern Hemisphere are located on Cerro Burek, approximately to the northeast and higher. Separating the areas is the Arroyo El Leoncito, which flows west into the Barreal Blanco in the Pampa de El Leoncito. The driving distance between the two sites is approximately .


Telescopes

* The Jorge Sahade Telescope (JS) is a Ritchey-Chrètien reflecting telescope built by Boller & Chivens. The 40-ton telescope is supported by an
equatorial mount An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that compensates for Earth's rotation by having one rotational axis, called ''polar axis'', parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescope mount, tel ...
. It was installed in 1984 and began regular operations in 1987. It was originally purchased by UNLP in the 1960s. * The Solar Submillimeter Telescope (SST) is a solar radio telescope design to observe
solar flares A solar flare is a relatively intense, localized emission of electromagnetic radiation in the Stellar atmosphere, Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar partic ...
at two wavelengths in the
submillimeter Submillimetre astronomy or submillimeter astronomy (see spelling differences) is the branch of observational astronomy that is conducted at submillimetre wavelengths (i.e., terahertz radiation) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Astronomers plac ...
range. It is a partnership of CASLEO and the Mackenzie Center for Radio
Astronomy and Astrophysics ''Astronomy & Astrophysics (A&A)'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering theoretical, observational, and instrumental astronomy and astrophysics. It is operated by an editorial team under the supervision of a board of directors re ...
of Brazil. Several other organizations have also participated. The SST was installed in 1999 and began routine operations in 2001. * The Helen Sawyer Hogg Telescope (HSHT) is a classical
Cassegrain reflector The Cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror and a secondary convex mirror, often used in optical telescopes and Antenna (radio), radio antennas, the main characteristic being that the optical path folds back onto itself, ...
built by Competition Associates and installed in 1971 at the University of Toronto Southern Observatory, which was located at
Las Campanas Observatory Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) is an astronomy, astronomical observatory managed by the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS). Located in Chile's Atacama Region, it sits about northeast of the city of La Serena, Chile, La Serena. The LCO's telesc ...
in
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
. In 1997 UTSO was shut down, and the telescope was loaned indefinitely to CASLEO, where it was installed in 1998. The telescope was dedicated to
Helen Sawyer Hogg Helen Battles Sawyer Hogg (August 1, 1905 – January 28, 1993) was an American-Canadian astronomer who pioneered research into globular clusters and variable stars. She was the first female president of several astronomical organizations and a ...
before it was moved. * The Astrograph for the Southern Hemisphere (ASH) is a reflecting telescope on an
equatorial mount An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that compensates for Earth's rotation by having one rotational axis, called ''polar axis'', parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescope mount, tel ...
. It is a partnership of CASLEO and the Astrophysics Institute of Andalucía. * The Horacio Ghielmetti Telescope (THG) is a Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector made by
Meade Instruments Meade Instruments Corporation (also shortened to Meade) was an American multinational corporation, multinational company (law), company headquartered in Watsonville, California, that manufactured, imported and distributed telescopes, binoculars, ...
attached to an equatorial mount. It is operated by CASLEO and the Institute of Astronomy and Space Physics of Argentina. * The HASTA (H-alpha Solar Telescope of Argentina) for full-disk monitoring of solar H-alpha activity at high resolution.


Gallery

Image:Telescopio del Complejo astronomico el Leoncito-San Juan-ARG.JPG, Jorge Sahade Telescope


See also

* University of Toronto Southern Observatory *
List of astronomical observatories This is a partial list of astronomical observatories ordered by name, along with initial dates of operation (where an accurate date is available) and location. The list also includes a final year of operation for many observatories that are no lon ...


References


External links


Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito
homepage in Spanish
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
in Spanish {{Portal bar, Argentina, Astronomy, Stars, Spaceflight, Outer space, Solar System, Education, Science Astronomical observatories in Argentina Buildings and structures in San Juan Province, Argentina