 The Skies of the Southern Hemisphere: Chile & the Magellan Project
January 14 - 25, 2007
Led by MIT Professor Edmund Bertschinger
12 Days/11 Nights
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2 nights aloft (inbound and outbound flight) |
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2 nights at the Hotel Plaza El Bosque (at the beginning and end of trip) |
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3 nights at the Hosteria San Pedro |
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2 nights at the Hotel Radisson |
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2 nights at the Hotel Costa Real |
Physical Activity Rating: Level 2 [Level Descriptions]
An exclusive MIT program to Chile
"Awesome, unique experience at the observatories and during tour sites in Chile." - Bill Layson '56, 2006 tour participant
Travel with MIT alumni on a specially designed program to Chile - repeated by popular demand. The highlight of our program is a private tour of the amazing telescopes of the Magellan Project at Las Campanas Observatory. The Magellan Project is a collaboration of Observatories of various institutions including MIT, Harvard and the Carnegie Institution of Washington. Las Campanas Observatory is located at an altitude of 8,000 feet in the Chilean Andes.
Our program is led by Dr. Edmund Bertschinger, MIT Professor of Physics and Division Head of Astrophysics. He is a theoretical astrophysicist whose research interests focus on cosmology and relativistic astrophysics.
We will also visit the Cerro Tololo Observatory and the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. The clear atmosphere and isolation of this area provide wonderful views of the night sky.
To complement our visit to the north, we travel to the Atacama desert, situated in the arid far north, and marked by the Chilean Altiplano. The Atacama is extraordinary in its beauty, geographical scope, and it lies at the base of the Andes, just outside an oasis called San Pedro. Here we will explore some of the most extraordinary landscapes in the world - volcanoes, geysers, evaporated salt lakes, hot springs, petroglyphs, ancient pre-Columbian cultures, and striking landscapes. Also included are visits to the great “Salar de Atacama,” with its various species of flamingos; the “El Tatio” with its show of geysers gushing out their morning display at sunrise; “Moon Valley” with its fantastic landscape caused by the erosion of salt mountain; and the “Termas de Puritana” hot springs for a chance to bathe in warm mineral waters.
To reserve your space on this program, please call the MIT Alumni Travel Program at 800-992-6749 or email the Travel Program at compass@mit.edu.
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