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Atacama Desert vs Big Bend?

kevindosi

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kevindosi

kevindosi

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I'll soon have the good fortune to take a two week trip to Santiago, Chile. I'll be there from February 28-March 10. Having grown up in Houston, I've actually never seen the milky way across the sky. So I was thinking that I might take advantage of my time in Santiago to take a bus up to Atacama and see the stars. A perhaps less impressive option would be Elqui Valley, which is much closer.

The problem is that this will likely be my only visit to Chile, and I would also really like to visit the South, which is on the opposite end of the country. I won't be able to see both. So I'm wondering, should the view from Atacama be much better than from Big Bend (West Texas)? I've never been to Big Bend but could drive there when I have a long weekend even. If the view from Atacama is much better, I would want to take advantage of this unique opportunity. If it's no less stunning than from West Texas, then I would likely pass and visit the South of Chile instead. 

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

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The Atacama will be better for sure but the trouble is that Chile is a unique country in being so long. So saying 'I'll be in Chile' isn't that different from saying 'I'll be in the southern hemisphere.' To be any longer than Chile you'd need to go from the south Pole to the Equator - and Chile has a darned crack at that!

Tierra del Fuego looks ravishing, but so does the Atacama. Choices choices.

There is a French owned astronomy guest setup in the Atacama. i know no more than that it exists. It might be of interest.

Olly

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ronin

ronin

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The Atacama has to be first if the aim is to view the sky, but there has to be somewhere in Texas that is dark.

Houston may not be but Conroe to Huntsville has to be dark and Brenham also.

Would have thought that anywhere between 45 and 35 would be pretty dark, certainly enough to see the Milky Way.

Big Bend NP will be dark, there appears nothing within 150Km of the place.

Try Lake Livingston and Sam Houston NF.

Any astro clubs around to make enquiries at?

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ronin

ronin

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On the assumption that you re not the person that posted on CN 2 years ago, this has just appeared as information to what is a 2 years old post asking about Big Bend astro:

Posted 2/14/14:

I know this is an old thread, but we're in SW Texas right now to escape the winter weather hitting the entire eastern US, and are currently in our motorhome at Marathon Motel & RV Park. The owner is an astrophotographer, and last week he was busy pouring concrete telescope pads for the guests to use. These are class 1 dark skies, and I can't praise it enough for those wanting to experience some truly dark skies in an extremely friendly atmosphere. There are plenty of RV sites to go around, and motel rooms for the folks traveling without a home on their backs.

Big Bend National Park is right down the road, which is absolutely stunning for daytime photography, or just enjoying some of the scenery this area has to offer.

Check them out at: http://www.marathonmotel.com

This is/was the original CN post:

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/5536583/page/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

Just read further down and the owner of marathon motel (Danny) has replied/posted.

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dick_dangerous

dick_dangerous

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I travelled to Chile in 2006 and visited both the Atacama and Patagonia (It was an extended trip). Travel times are long because, as mentioned, the country has an exceedingly extended shape*. In two weeks you wouldn't have time to visit both ends.

Patagonia, for me, is South America. It's fantastic - Tierra del Fuego, Torres del Paine, Los Glaciares (Across the border in Argentina but easy enough to get to). You'll see guanaco, soaring mountains, condors, glaciers, the works. If you can, take the Navimag ferry through the fjords - I hear great reports. As an astronomical destination? Maybe not so good - the weather there can be stormy, cloudy and wet, especially on the Chilean side. Not conducive to observing.

On the other hand the Atacama is perfect for astronomy - virtually no moisture in the sky, clear nights pretty much year round etc. San Pedro de Atacama is the best base - a touristy oasis town, but very pleasant. There are Inca ruins, remote desert views and you can take a trip to the El Tatio geyser complex and even over the border into Bolivia's stunning Salar de Uyuni and surreal altiplano. You could break the trip up from Santiago at La Serena, a lovely beach town where you can take trips to the Mamalluca observatory and the Los Pinguinos reserves where you can see penguins and pelicans and sea lions (Oh my!!!).

If you go to San Pedro, I would recommend this company - http://www.spaceobs.com/. I think it might be the outfit Olly refers to above because the guy, Alain, is French - they take you out into the desert with a bunch of telescopes and run tours of the sky. It was one of the highlights of my trip because he's so enthusiastic about the subject, and it was a much better experience than even the tours of the big observatories further south like Mamalluca near La Serena. That alone would be a reason for me to go back to San Pedro! I kept a blog while I was out there, and my experience of this tour can be found here. You have to scroll down to the last few paragraphs for the astronomy tour.

Hope this helps,

DD

* Interesting explanation - the reason for this is that the division between Chile and Argentina is determined by which ocean the rivers drain into. Chile got all the watersheds that drained to the Pacific, Argentina those that drained to the Atlantic. Chile, of course, lucked out!

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Ant

Ant

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I've been to the TSP which is partly organised by the HAS (Houston astronomical society), it is held at a place called the Prude Ranch in the Davis Mountains.

It's been a while since I've been but the skies were the best I've ever seen. I'm sure that when I went the limiting magnitude was around +8.

Couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

I'm sure that the Atacama is better, but if you can't make it there during your visit - then somewhere over in rural Texas will be a pretty good alternative.

Cheers

Ant

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