Site in Northern Chile Selected for Large Synoptic Survey Telescope(Forwarded)

LSST Corporation
Tucson, Arizona

Science Contact Information:

J. Anthony Tyson, LSST Director
530-752-3830

Donald Sweeney, LSST Project Manager
520-661-9247

Media Contact Information:
Suzanne Jacoby, LSST Corporation
520-881-2626

May 17, 2006

RELEASE LSSTC-04

Site in Northern Chile Selected for Large Synoptic Survey Telescope

Cerro Pachón, an 8,800-foot (2,682-meter) mountain peak in northern
Chile, has been selected as the site for the proposed Large Synoptic
Survey Telescope (LSST).

Scheduled to see "first light" in 2012, the 8.4-meter LSST will be able
to survey the entire visible sky every three nights with its
three-billion pixel digital camera, probing the mysteries of Dark Matter
and Dark Energy, and opening a movie-like window on objects that change
or move on rapid timescales: exploding supernovae, potentially hazardous
near-Earth asteroids as small as 100 meters, and distant Kuiper Belt
Objects.

The decision to place the LSST on Cerro Pachón follows a two-year
campaign of in-depth testing and analysis of the atmospheric conditions
and quality of astronomical "seeing" at four sites in Chile, Mexico, and
the Canary Islands. The eleven members of the Site Selection Committee,
chaired by Marc Sarazin from the European Southern Observatory, reviewed
detailed proposals from two final sites, San Pedro Mártir in Baja
California, Mexico, and Cerro Pachón, regarding their suitability for
the project. The final selection of Cerro Pachón was made by the LSST
Corporation Board of Directors based on a recommendation from the Site
Selection Committee.

Important factors when considering a site for the LSST include the
number of clear nights per year, seasonal weather patterns, and the
quality of images as seen through the local atmosphere. The chosen site
also needed to have an existing observatory infrastructure and access to
fiber optic links, to accommodate the anticipated 30 terabytes of data
LSST will produce each night.

Universidad de Chile Director Leonardo Bronfman said: "Chilean
astronomers are enthusiastic about having the LSST sited in Chile and
participating in its development and operation. We have unparalleled
access to a wide suite of facilities in Chile, and are eager to utilize
these resources to complement the strengths of LSST."

"The LSST will be the World's most powerful survey telescope and demands
a superb site. We finally had a difficult decision between two wonderful
sites at Cerro Pachón in Chile and San Pedro Mártir in Mexico. It's too
bad we can't build two telescopes -- one in each hemisphere." said
Donald Sweeney, LSST Project Manager. "The final decision was influenced
by the existing infrastructure at Cerro Pachón and the array of
synergistic facilities in the south." Cerro Pachón is already home to
the Gemini South 8-meter telescope and the SOAR 4.1-meter telescope.
LSST will be located on a peak on Cerro Pachón named El Peñón.

"Siting LSST in Chile leverages the significant multi-wavelength
astronomy investments already there," said University of California,
Davis, Professor and LSST Director J. Anthony Tyson. "LSST will change
the way we observe the universe by mapping the visible sky deeply,
rapidly, and continuously. LSST will open entirely new windows on our
universe, yielding discoveries in a variety of areas of astronomy and
fundamental physics."

More information about the LSST including current images, graphics, and
animation can be found at
http://www.lsst.org

In 2003, The University of Arizona, Research Corporation, the National
Optical Astronomy Observatory, and the University of Washington formed
the LSST Corporation, a non-profit 501(c)3 Arizona corporation, with
headquarters in Tucson, AZ. Membership has expanded to include
Brookhaven National Laboratory, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for
Astrophysics, Johns Hopkins University, Kavli Institute for Particle
Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Las Cumbres Observatory
Inc., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Stanford Linear
Accelerator Center, The Pennsylvania State University, University of
California at Davis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and
University of Pennsylvania.

The LSST research and development effort is funded in part by the
National Science Foundation under Scientific Program Order No. 9
(AST-0551161) through Cooperative Agreement AST-0132798. Additional
funding comes from private donations, in-kind support at Department of
Energy laboratories and other LSSTC Institutional Members.

Additional images for this LSST Press Release can be found at:
http://www.lsst.org/News/LSSTC_04.shtml