Chile's stargazing 'dark skies' are under threat

A massive chemical plant is causing a "celestial crisis" in Chile's stargazing stronghold, said Reuters.

Experts are warning that the South American nation's "pristine" dark desert skies, which are "world-renowned" for astronomy, are in danger from the march of urban and industrial development.

'Perfect darkness'

Chile's Atacama desert is the driest non-polar region on Earth, where "the sky shines when the sun sets", said The Guardian. Comets "burn brightly" and "flawless trails of stars" and nebulae "streak the night sky".

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The darkness is "so complete" that Indigenous people have "contemplated the dark spots" in between the stars, tracing the forms of animals and ancestors in the "perfect darkness".

Those dark, clear skies have "propelled" Chile to become the world's "astronomical powerhouse", but starwatchers have warned that this status is "under immediate threat".

The "observational prowess" of the Cerro Paranal, the darkest observatory site in the world, "might soon be history", said Sky and Telescope, thanks to the threat of light pollution from a proposed industrial "megaproject".

The energy company, AES Andes, has released plans for Chile's first industrial-scale processing plant - the Inna project. The project would aim to generate "green" hydrogen and ammonia from sea water, using solar and wind energy inland in the Atacama.

The 3,000-hectare facility, which would feed excess energy into the national grid, would be just 11.6km from vital sky observatories. It would need to be illuminated at night for safety and "even the dust kicked up" during construction and the "atmospheric turbulence" of planned wind turbines "worry scientists", said The Guardian, so the "astronomical community" is "unequivocal" in its opposition.

'Coexistence is possible'

AES told Reuters that its own studies found that the maximum increase in the natural brightness of the sky because of the project would not exceed 0.27% on Paranal Hill and 0.09% on Armazones Hill, two key locations for stargazers.

The company insisted that project is in a location the government has earmarked for renewable energy and environmental requirements, so there's "no possibility of relocating" it.

Instead, the project can "work with the world and Chile's astronomy community", to prove that, "with new technology and cultural shifts" to "protect" Chile's dark skies, "coexistence is possible", said a spokesperson.

Chile's science minister, Aisen Etcheverry, said astronomy and energy are "both are important" to ministers, who are "working to find solutions" that "allow both these activities to happen".