# La Silla

*Observatory*

ESO La Silla Observatory

| | |
| --- | --- |
| Where it is | 29.2600° S, 70.7300° W |
| State | CL |
| What is done there | optical observatory |
| Main mirror | 3.6 m |
| Still working | yes |

Test ranges, observatories and ground stations are a hand-picked list kept in this project rather than a published catalogue: no catalogue answers which of the world's thousands of observing sites belong on a map of it. The article below is what lets the choice be argued with.

## What it is

La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are also located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observatory is one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and was the first in Chile to be used by ESO.
The La Silla telescopes and instruments are located in the North of the Coquimbo region, 150 km northeast of La Serena, on the outskirts of the Atacama Desert, one of the driest and most remote areas in the world.

## Elsewhere

- This place on the live map: https://www.orbitalmap.space/?at=-29.26,-70.73
- The article this row is vouched by: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Silla_Observatory
- Every object: https://www.orbitalmap.space/o/
- What this site is and what it reads: https://www.orbitalmap.space/llms.txt

## Where this came from

Compiled 2026-09-17. Selected by hand for this project. Description from Wikipedia (en). Description: CC BY-SA 4.0.