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Dark skies of Paranal Observatory in Chile are under threat

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Sunday, April 6, 2025

The European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory lies under some of the darkest and clearest skies in the world, in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Now a new construction project is threatening to cause irreparable damage to the views of deep space, visible from this pristine site. In this image, Jupiter is the bright object near ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek (standing at center). The telescopes in this view are the 4 Unit Telescopes (UTs) that comprise ESO’s Very Large Telescope VLT. Also in this shot are 4 smaller Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs). Image via ESO/ P. Horálek. Dark skies of Paranal Observatory under threat The night sky over the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile is said to be the darkest and clearest over any astronomical observatory in the world. Astronomical data gathered under these pristine skies let astronomers present the first image of an exoplanet, and confirm the accelerated expansion of the universe. But now, according to ESO, a new industrial megaproject is threatening the observatory’s dark skies. A preliminary analysis by ESO suggests the project would cause “devastating and irreversible” harm to the region’s night sky. That megaproject is a massive industrial complex by AES Andes, based in Santiago, Chile. This company is a subsidiary of the U.S. power company AES Corporation. According to ESO, the AES Andes complex would be city sized (more than 7,400 acres) and lie just a few kilometers from Paranal Observatory. The ESO analysis follows an environmental assessment, submited by AES Andes on December 24, 2024. AES Andes’ project is called INNA, for Infraestructura Energética para la Generación de Hidrogeno y Amoníaco Verde. The project seeks to make use of the solar and wind resources in the area. ESO’s director general Xavier Barcons said: The proximity of the AES Andes industrial megaproject to Paranal poses a critical risk to the most pristine night skies on the planet. Dust emissions during construction, increased atmospheric turbulence, and especially light pollution will irreparably impact the capabilities for astronomical observation, which have thus far attracted multi-billion-Euro investments by the governments of the ESO Member States. View larger. | This map of the region shows the location of Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile along with the proposed industrial complex. Image via ESO. The results of the analysis The INNA project would include construction of a port, ammonia and hydrogen production plants and thousands of electricity generation units. The analysis said that light pollution would increase by at least 35% above the VLT and by more than 50% above the south site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO-South). The increase in air turbulence and vibrations would further cause problems. For example, the Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction, is extremely sensitive to even the smallest vibrations. The nearby INNA project wind turbines would impair its abilities. How would this harm astronomers’ research? One example – described by Paul Scott Anderson of EarthSky – is that, after its completion, the ELT would have the capability to find alien life in just hours. Will that still be true if AES Andes carries out its industrial megaproject? The impact of light pollution on these telescopes even puts our planet at risk. A representative of ESO, Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo, said: With a brighter sky, we severely limit our ability to … monitor asteroids that could cause damage to our planet. We build the largest and most powerful telescopes, in the best place on Earth for astronomy, to enable astronomers worldwide to see what no one has ever seen before. Light pollution from projects like INNA doesn’t just hinder research, it steals our shared view of the universe. The director of operations for ESO, Andreas Kaufer, said: The light-pollution figures we are reporting assume that the project will install the most modern available luminaries in a way that minimizes light pollution. However, we are concerned that the inventory of light sources planned by AES is not complete and fit for purpose. In that case, our already alarming results would underestimate the potential impact of the INNA project on the Paranal sky brightness. Request to move the project Barcons said: ESO and its Member States are fully supportive of energy decarbonization. For us Chile should not have to make a choice between hosting the most powerful astronomical observatories and developing green-energy projects. Both are declared strategic priorities by the country and are fully compatible — if the different facilities are located at sufficient distances from one another. ESO also has an executive summary of the report on the environmental impact assessment. ESO said: The relocation of this project remains the only effective way to prevent irreversible damage to Paranal’s unique skies. Chilean authorities will look at the full technical report in late April 2025. Views from Paranal Observatory This image showcases ESO’s Paranal Observatory and the Very Large Telescope (VLT). They sit at an altitude of 8,530 feet (2,600 meters) in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The snow-capped peak in the background is the volcano Llullaillaco, on the Argentinean border. ESO said, “This image is a testimony of the magnificent quality of the air and the ideal conditions for observing at this remote site.” Image via ESO/ G.Hüdepohl. A laser shoots out of one of the Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Image via ESO/ Yuri Beletsky. This scene from Paranal Observatory shows an Auxiliary Telescope in the foreground between the Magellanic Clouds as the Milky Way arches overhead. Image via ESO/ R. Wesson. Bottom line: The Atacama Desert in Chile, where ESO’s Paranal Observatory sits, has some of the clearest and darkest skies in the world. Groundbreaking astronomical discoveries have come from the observatories there. But a new industrial complex threatens the observatory with devastating and irreversible impacts. Via ESOThe post Dark skies of Paranal Observatory in Chile are under threat first appeared on EarthSky.

ESO's Paranal Observatory, in Chile's Atacama Desert, has some of the world's clearest and darkest skies. But a new construction project now threatens them. The post Dark skies of Paranal Observatory in Chile are under threat first appeared on EarthSky.

The Milky Way arching through a dark sky with observatory buildings and a man on a structure reaching upward. — The European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory lies under some of the darkest and clearest skies in the world, in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Now a new construction project is threatening to cause irreparable damage to the views of deep space, visible from this pristine site. In this image, Jupiter is the bright object near ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek (standing at center). The telescopes in this view are the 4 Unit Telescopes (UTs) that comprise ESO’s Very Large Telescope VLT. Also in this shot are 4 smaller Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs). Image via ESO/ P. Horálek.

Dark skies of Paranal Observatory under threat

The night sky over the European Southern Observatory’s Paranal Observatory in Chile is said to be the darkest and clearest over any astronomical observatory in the world. Astronomical data gathered under these pristine skies let astronomers present the first image of an exoplanet, and confirm the accelerated expansion of the universe. But now, according to ESO, a new industrial megaproject is threatening the observatory’s dark skies. A preliminary analysis by ESO suggests the project would cause “devastating and irreversible” harm to the region’s night sky.

That megaproject is a massive industrial complex by AES Andes, based in Santiago, Chile. This company is a subsidiary of the U.S. power company AES Corporation. According to ESO, the AES Andes complex would be city sized (more than 7,400 acres) and lie just a few kilometers from Paranal Observatory. The ESO analysis follows an environmental assessment, submited by AES Andes on December 24, 2024.

AES Andes’ project is called INNA, for Infraestructura Energética para la Generación de Hidrogeno y Amoníaco Verde. The project seeks to make use of the solar and wind resources in the area.

ESO’s director general Xavier Barcons said:

The proximity of the AES Andes industrial megaproject to Paranal poses a critical risk to the most pristine night skies on the planet. Dust emissions during construction, increased atmospheric turbulence, and especially light pollution will irreparably impact the capabilities for astronomical observation, which have thus far attracted multi-billion-Euro investments by the governments of the ESO Member States.

Map of the Paranal Observatory area with locations of telescopes and proposed power planet marked. — View larger. | This map of the region shows the location of Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert in Chile along with the proposed industrial complex. Image via ESO.

The results of the analysis

The INNA project would include construction of a port, ammonia and hydrogen production plants and thousands of electricity generation units. The analysis said that light pollution would increase by at least 35% above the VLT and by more than 50% above the south site of the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO-South). The increase in air turbulence and vibrations would further cause problems. For example, the Extremely Large Telescope, currently under construction, is extremely sensitive to even the smallest vibrations. The nearby INNA project wind turbines would impair its abilities. How would this harm astronomers’ research? One example – described by Paul Scott Anderson of EarthSky – is that, after its completion, the ELT would have the capability to find alien life in just hours. Will that still be true if AES Andes carries out its industrial megaproject?

The impact of light pollution on these telescopes even puts our planet at risk. A representative of ESO, Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo, said:

With a brighter sky, we severely limit our ability to … monitor asteroids that could cause damage to our planet. We build the largest and most powerful telescopes, in the best place on Earth for astronomy, to enable astronomers worldwide to see what no one has ever seen before. Light pollution from projects like INNA doesn’t just hinder research, it steals our shared view of the universe.

The director of operations for ESO, Andreas Kaufer, said:

The light-pollution figures we are reporting assume that the project will install the most modern available luminaries in a way that minimizes light pollution. However, we are concerned that the inventory of light sources planned by AES is not complete and fit for purpose. In that case, our already alarming results would underestimate the potential impact of the INNA project on the Paranal sky brightness.

Request to move the project

Barcons said:

ESO and its Member States are fully supportive of energy decarbonization. For us Chile should not have to make a choice between hosting the most powerful astronomical observatories and developing green-energy projects. Both are declared strategic priorities by the country and are fully compatible — if the different facilities are located at sufficient distances from one another.

ESO also has an executive summary of the report on the environmental impact assessment. ESO said:

The relocation of this project remains the only effective way to prevent irreversible damage to Paranal’s unique skies.

Chilean authorities will look at the full technical report in late April 2025.

Views from Paranal Observatory

A reddish desert with buildings atop a mountain and a snow-capped peak in the far distance. — This image showcases ESO’s Paranal Observatory and the Very Large Telescope (VLT). They sit at an altitude of 8,530 feet (2,600 meters) in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The snow-capped peak in the background is the volcano Llullaillaco, on the Argentinean border. ESO said, “This image is a testimony of the magnificent quality of the air and the ideal conditions for observing at this remote site.” Image via ESO/ G.Hüdepohl.

A telescope with a beam of light coming out the top and aiming for the Milky Way. — A laser shoots out of one of the Unit Telescopes of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Image via ESO/ Yuri Beletsky.

Telescopes under a dark sky with the Milky Way and some other star clouds. — This scene from Paranal Observatory shows an Auxiliary Telescope in the foreground between the Magellanic Clouds as the Milky Way arches overhead. Image via ESO/ R. Wesson.

Bottom line: The Atacama Desert in Chile, where ESO’s Paranal Observatory sits, has some of the clearest and darkest skies in the world. Groundbreaking astronomical discoveries have come from the observatories there. But a new industrial complex threatens the observatory with devastating and irreversible impacts.

Via ESO

The post Dark skies of Paranal Observatory in Chile are under threat first appeared on EarthSky.

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For example, mathematical formulas can be related to algorithms that implement them and use resources, or descriptions of systems can be related to robust “monoidal string diagrams.” These visualizations allow you to directly play around and experiment with how the different parts connect and interact. What they developed, he says, amounts to “string diagrams on steroids,” which incorporates many more graphical conventions and many more properties.“Category theory can be thought of as the mathematics of abstraction and composition,” Abbott says. “Any compositional system can be described using category theory, and the relationship between compositional systems can then also be studied.” Algebraic rules that are typically associated with functions can also be represented as diagrams, he says. “Then, a lot of the visual tricks we can do with diagrams, we can relate to algebraic tricks and functions. So, it creates this correspondence between these different systems.”As a result, he says, “this solves a very important problem, which is that we have these deep-learning algorithms, but they’re not clearly understood as mathematical models.” But by representing them as diagrams, it becomes possible to approach them formally and systematically, he says.One thing this enables is a clear visual understanding of the way parallel real-world processes can be represented by parallel processing in multicore computer GPUs. “In this way,” Abbott says, “diagrams can both represent a function, and then reveal how to optimally execute it on a GPU.”The “attention” algorithm is used by deep-learning algorithms that require general, contextual information, and is a key phase of the serialized blocks that constitute large language models such as ChatGPT. FlashAttention is an optimization that took years to develop, but resulted in a sixfold improvement in the speed of attention algorithms.Applying their method to the well-established FlashAttention algorithm, Zardini says that “here we are able to derive it, literally, on a napkin.” He then adds, “OK, maybe it’s a large napkin.” But to drive home the point about how much their new approach can simplify dealing with these complex algorithms, they titled their formal research paper on the work “FlashAttention on a Napkin.”This method, Abbott says, “allows for optimization to be really quickly derived, in contrast to prevailing methods.” While they initially applied this approach to the already existing FlashAttention algorithm, thus verifying its effectiveness, “we hope to now use this language to automate the detection of improvements,” says Zardini, who in addition to being a principal investigator in LIDS, is the Rudge and Nancy Allen Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and an affiliate faculty with the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.The plan is that ultimately, he says, they will develop the software to the point that “the researcher uploads their code, and with the new algorithm you automatically detect what can be improved, what can be optimized, and you return an optimized version of the algorithm to the user.”In addition to automating algorithm optimization, Zardini notes that a robust analysis of how deep-learning algorithms relate to hardware resource usage allows for systematic co-design of hardware and software. This line of work integrates with Zardini’s focus on categorical co-design, which uses the tools of category theory to simultaneously optimize various components of engineered systems.Abbott says that “this whole field of optimized deep learning models, I believe, is quite critically unaddressed, and that’s why these diagrams are so exciting. They open the doors to a systematic approach to this problem.”“I’m very impressed by the quality of this research. ... The new approach to diagramming deep-learning algorithms used by this paper could be a very significant step,” says Jeremy Howard, founder and CEO of Answers.ai, who was not associated with this work. “This paper is the first time I’ve seen such a notation used to deeply analyze the performance of a deep-learning algorithm on real-world hardware. ... The next step will be to see whether real-world performance gains can be achieved.”“This is a beautifully executed piece of theoretical research, which also aims for high accessibility to uninitiated readers — a trait rarely seen in papers of this kind,” says Petar Velickovic, a senior research scientist at Google DeepMind and a lecturer at Cambridge University, who was not associated with this work. These researchers, he says, “are clearly excellent communicators, and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next!”The new diagram-based language, having been posted online, has already attracted great attention and interest from software developers. A reviewer from Abbott’s prior paper introducing the diagrams noted that “The proposed neural circuit diagrams look great from an artistic standpoint (as far as I am able to judge this).” “It’s technical research, but it’s also flashy!” Zardini says.

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The UK Says at an Energy Summit That Green Power Will Boost Security, as the US Differs

Britain has announced a major investment in wind power as it hosts an international summit on energy security

LONDON (AP) — Britain announced a major investment in wind power Thursday as it hosted an international summit on energy security — with Europe and the United States at odds over whether to cut their reliance on fossil fuels.U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government will invest 300 million pounds ($400 million) in boosting Britain’s capacity to manufacture components for the offshore wind industry, a move it hopes will encourage private investment in the U.K.’s renewable energy sector.“As long as energy can be weaponized against us, our countries and our citizens are vulnerable and exposed,” U.K. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told delegates.He said “low-carbon power” was a route to energy security as well as a way to slow climate change.Britain now gets more than half its electricity from renewable sources such as wind and solar power, and the rest from natural gas and nuclear energy. It aims to generate all the U.K.’s energy from renewable sources by 2030.Tommy Joyce, U.S. acting assistant secretary of energy for international affairs, told participants they should be “honest about the world’s growing energy needs, not focused on net-zero politics.”He called policies that push for clean power over fossil fuels "harmful and dangerous," and claimed building wind turbines requires "concessions to or coercion from China" because it supplies necessary rare minerals.Hosted by the British government and the International Energy Agency, the two-day summit brings together government ministers from 60 countries, senior European Union officials, energy sector CEOs, heads of international organizations and nonprofits to assess risks to the global energy system and figure out solutions. Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott contributed to this story. ___The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Feb. 2025

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