The dark skies on the best astronomy sites in the world could be ruined by New Energy Project

A green energy plant is expected to be built in the Chilean Atacama desert could increase the brightness of the night sky in one of the most valuable astronomical places in the world up to 35%, a new study has revealed.

Such an increase would seriously affect the scientific observations made by some of the largest and most expensive telescopes in the world, hindering scientific progress in our understanding of the most intriguing phenomena in The universe.

The Astronomical Site is the Paranal Mount, where the Observatory of the South European (ESO) Very large telescope (VLT) is found. The American company AES Energy has proposed a 7,400 acres green hydrogen production installation (3,000 hectares), which presented an environmental impact assessment to the Chilean environmental impact agency at the end of December. While an Aes Energy spokesman Said previously Space.com Previously that the project will cause a “maximum increase on the brightness of the natural sky” over the paranal by 0.27%insignificant, ESO experts foresee a much more significant impact.

A new study So launched on Monday (March 17) calculates that the night sky on VLT could be rejected by up to 35%, since the telescope is less than 7 miles (11 kilometers) of the possible inna site. That is an amazing increase that would seriously hinder the telescope capacity to see exoplanets, study the most distant galaxies and detect asteroids that are approaching.

“The light contamination figures that we are informing suppose that the project will install the most modern luminaires available in a way that minimizes light pollution,” said Andreas Kaufer, director of Operations of that and the main author of the study, in a statement accompanying the new study of that.

“However, we are concerned that the inventory of light sources planned by AES is not complete and adequate for its purpose. In that case, our already alarming results would underestimate the potential impact of the INNA project on the brightness of the paranal sky.”

VLT, an interferometer consisting of four 28 -foot wide telescopes (8.5 m) that work together as one, is one of the most powerful astronomical instruments in the world. Captured the First image of an exoplanet and tracked stars near the black hole In the center of Milky Way Galaxy, among other achievements.

The telescope, apart from its size, benefits from the exceptionally dark sky on the Paranal mountain, which is the least contaminated with the light among all the main astronomical places in the western world. INNA construction would seriously reduce the scientific scope of VLT.

“We build the largest and most powerful telescopes, in the best place on Earth for astronomy, to allow astronomers around the world to see what no one has seen before,” said Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo, representative of that in Chile. “The light pollution of projects such as INNA not only hinders research, but also steals our shared vision of the universe.”

A bright light of light approaches the horizon under a sunset full of stars

A kite shines after sunset on a southern European observatory in Chile. (Image credit: Florentin Millour/ESO)

It is not just the VLT that will suffer. He Cherenkov Telescope Matrix ObservatoryThat it is currently being built in Paranal, it will suffer an increase in 50% light pollution due to INNA, since it is only 3 miles (5 km) of the planned hydrogen plant.

The project will also affect the Extremely large telescope (Elt), a visible mega-light bigger in the world Once completed towards the end of this decade. The study that estimates that the sky above the ELT could be rejected by 5%, which is sufficient to affect the demanding observations for which it is being built to perform.

That did the cooperation study with the Canadian light pollution expert Martin Aubé using vanguard light pollution models. The equipment used publicly available data from the INNA Environmental Impact Assessment presented by AES. The company estimates that the complex will require more than 1,000 artificial lights.

The AES spokesman told Space.com before the project will comply with “the highest lighting standards in its design,” as required by the regulations established by the Chilean Ministry of Environment to prevent contamination of light and protect the astronomical quality of night skies, the health of people and biodiversity.

In addition to the contamination of light, there are other impacts that observatories can expect to experience. The study of ESO also found that wind turbines in INNA will shake the thin and quiet atmosphere on the Atacama desert. The resulting turbulence in the air will further affect astronomical observations, causing a twinkling effect on objects of distant deep space as seen from Earth. That estimates that observation conditions can worsen up to 40% due to turbines.

“Taken together, these disturbances seriously threaten the current viability and long term of paranal as a world leader in astronomy, causing the loss of key discoveries over the universe and compromising Chile’s strategic advantage in this area,” says Gregorio-Monsalvo, representative of that in Chile. “The only way to save the impeccable paranal skies and protect astronomy for future generations is to relocate the INNA complex.”

That will present the report to the Chilean authorities as part of the citizen participation process in response to the environmental assessment of INNNA.

Light pollution is an important problem that affects astronomical observatories worldwide. The paranal site is one of the remaining few in the world where light pollution Until now it is still insignificant. The night virgin of the sky combined with the dryness of Atacama air provides the best conditions for astronomical study worldwide.