Neighbours at height: The Chajnantor Working Group

May 16, 2024 | News | 0 comments

Tags: ALMA

☆☆☆☆☆
Did you know that near our antennas we have a Guinness World Record? That is the case of the TAO Project, the Japanese observatory that was inaugurated this month at 5,640 metres above sea level.

What science will it be able to achieve, what will its security be like, its power source, its fibre optics, etc.? These are some of the topics that are shared at the Chajnantor Working Group (CWG), an annual collaborative event that for more than 9 years has brought together observatories that, like ours, work on the Chajnantor plateau at an altitude that is unique in the world. On the 7th and 8th of May we met again (this time at OSF) always under the organisation of the Atacama Astronomical Park.

“The meeting was very good. It is very interesting to see how each project presents new things and how all the others receive the information that is given to them from these other projects in a very good way. There is good feedback and I realise that they are pleasantly surprised by what the others are doing,” says César Ocampo, General Manager of the Atacama Astronomical Park (and former ALMA staff member).

“This communication serves in two ways. It allows them to see things that can help them, things of common interest, such as energy solutions, connectivity. And the other is a purely scientific interest, to know what they are advancing in, what achievements they have, what plans they have regarding the science that will be done with these projects,” he adds.

An authorised voice to talk about this annual event is Mónica Rubio, astronomer, professor at the Department of Astronomy at the University of Chile and winner of the 2021 National Science Prize: “We work in such adverse and special conditions that collaboration is fundamental. And being able to share infrastructure, energy, fibre optics, is undoubtedly very positive for all the projects. It’s really spectacular to see all the progress that has been made and also the science that is being done”.

Monica has been part of this group since its beginnings and is very optimistic about the science being developed on the Chajnantor plateau: “These days have been spectacular. After almost 15 years in which there were only two potential projects, seeing today the six new projects and those that are already doing science makes me very happy, and I see that the decision to protect this area for world astronomy has been very positive”.

One of the first projects to be presented was the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope (CCAT) observatory, and those working on it say that “it’s always good to share information, and I think this is an effective group: every time I attend, I see and learn things. It facilitates connections and experience, and it helps us to not make the same mistakes as others,” says Jim Blair, head of operations and project manager of CCAT.
The topic that took special attention in this CWG meeting was the security that each observatory must have, a key issue also for Marcelo Jara, our Lead Safety Officer, who participated and presented at the meeting: “We have the logistics, the Astronomical Park intends to work with us, but the important thing would be to know the physical spaces where people work in each observatory, to know how to go in case of emergency, but we are making progress in the coordination so that we all speak the same language”, he concludes.
Click below to see more images from the meeting.
Thanks to Pablo Pistoia, Nori Takahashi and Ralph Bennett for the photos.
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS NEWSLETTER, GIVE IT A “LIKE” AND COMMENT!

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post