Cerro Mamalluca Observatory

The astronomic observatory of Cerro Mamalluca, depending on Town Council of Vicuña, which is located 9 Km to the northeast of the communal capital, in the heart of Elqui Valley. In 1994 it was become in the first amateur observatory of the country with touristic porpuses which it has earned several awards at national level, among them including SERNATUR of Coquimbo region and the Tourist Association of Municipalities of Chile. Its fame was mainly due to the enormous diffusion that the group “Los Jaivas” did with their musical production “Mamalluca;” a work which is not indifferent to the members of the Chilean group as the Keyboardist Claudio Parra, subsequently appeared twice in the observatory. This pioneering initiative in our country was born in the 80’ within a group of amateur astronomers called CASMIA and whose Director was the professor Juan Francisco Cortés. The idea was to have an observatory for amateur astronomy of the commune and the rest of the country. The first municipal managements achieved important advances: the donation of lands by family Rodríguez Urquieta, a telescope and the dome were donated by Cerro Tololo Observatory and obtaining resources from the FONDART, MOP, Regional Government and Pisquera Capel Company (a company which produces pisco).

At the end of 1995 the first stage of the observatory consisting of the main building Juan Francisco Cortés, with its respective dome, as well as the electrification system, access roads and drinking water, where it is developed the program called Basic Astronomy Tour. Later with resources of FNDR where it is built the second stage: Nicholas Copernicus Building which includes the planetarium, a selling room, a cafeteria, an auditorium, sanitary services and fitting out a museum and the program where Andean Worldview Tour is developed. Through the years new telescopes are acquired and donations are obtained by the Poland Republic to set up the museum consisting of replicas of the instruments used by Nicholas Copernicus. Nowadays the observatory have two digital telescopes and eight manual telescopes. The observatory not only attends thousands of tourists throughout the year. But also it has implemented a new social program of diffusion and promotion of Basic Astronomy called “Mira – Mira”. It was begun in 2006 with the trasnfer of Neighborhood leaders and elderly up to its building to observe the universe, which was very successful. Nowadays we cover several parts of the country with this program, bringing our telescopes to localities with limited resources, so they can know our skies. The initiative has the name of the first expression which had one of these children to visit atory and see through the express telescope “Mira – Mira!”.