Fuencis Rausell
Paranal (Chile), 24 nov (EFE).-the Princes of Asturias today highlighted the involvement of Spain in projects developed by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Chile and saw in him a field that can be very fertile for science and industry Spanish.
On the last day of his official visit of three days at Chile, don Felipe and doña Letizia toured the facilities that it owns in cerro Paranal, in the North of Chile, accompanied by the Spanish science and innovation, Minister Cristina Garmendia.
Paranal is one of the three observatories which operates in Chile that, the Organization Intergovernmental astronomer most important in Europe, created in 1962 and made up of fourteen European countries, among them Spain, and which recently joined Brazil.
“For Spain, joining in 2006 was a big push in the publications in the field of astronomy,” said the heir to the Spanish Crown in a speech at the end of your visit.
He said, Spain performs more than 7% of productions scientific in this branch.
In addition, many Spanish scientists carried out observations that complement those made in the Gran Telescopio Canarias, located on the Islands Spanish of the same name, off the coast on Paranal African.
In total, in 2010 Spanish scientists published 140 articles with information on facilities that, where currently working 32 Spanish, researchers ten of them in Chile.
Over 20 years Spain has gone from number thirty in scientific production to 9th place in the world.
In addition, the scientific potential, the Prince stressed the industrial and economic side of astronomy.
In fact, according to sources that, since the incorporation of Spain that have been awarded contracts to Spanish industry amounting to 17 million euros.
Spain also wants to obtain new orders. “The Spanish industry is present in the construction of new facilities that,” stressed the Prince.
Among them is the gigantic project soul, in which it collaborates with its partners American and Asian to install, also in the North of Chile, 66 antennas of radio telescope.
In this case, the Spanish companies were awarded contracts worth EUR 13 million for a system of power generation and the antenna of the radio telescope, among other tasks.
Another great project emblematic of this folder is the European Extremely Large Telescope (European extremely large telescope or E-ELT), which will be lifted in the cerro Armazones, near Panaral.
This was the place chosen in 2010 so to build facilities, for whose site were also candidates the Canary Islands.
When the E-ELT comes into operation at the beginning of the next decade, will it become the largest optical telescope and infrared in the world thanks to its mirror primary 39.3 metres in diameter.
Although the Spain Canary Islands finally not host this facility, two Spanish companies have managed to be in charge of the preliminary design of the dome and the E-ELT mirror cell.
In this regard, the Spanish science and innovation, Cristina Garmendia, Minister admitted the “scientific reasons” to choose Chile as the location.
“We respect with sportsmanship and we assume that Spain has to be present in this great project,” noted.
To the Minister, the development of a new industry of science could become “in one of the axes of the recovery” of the Spanish economy, plunged into a serious crisis.
Chilean Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno, highlighted that Paranal enjoys 330 days cleared a year and that, due to the climatic conditions in the North of the country, Chile owns 40% of the surface of the mirrors used in astronomy around the world.
On this visit, the Princes of Asturias knew the workings of one of the four telescopes of 8.2 meters, along with other four 1.8 m, constituting the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the optical largest telescope in the world.
One of the giant telescopes viewing 4 billion times more than an eye, but if used together as an interferometer, the resolution is multiplied by 25, to the extent that you can see a screw 400 km of distance.
Don Felipe and doña Letizia walked today by the platform located at the top of Paranal accompanied by the director general that, Tim Zeew, and its representative in Chile, Massimo Tarenghi.
From there, in the Atacama desert, they were able to observe the cerro Armazones, located 20 kilometers away, that today in day is nothing more than a barren mountain, but that within a decade will become one of the leaders of the astronomy world.
After his visit to Paranal, the Princes will return today same to Spain, with which he will be term his visit to Chile, which met with the President, Sebastián Piñera, opened a business forum and met with the Spanish community in this country. EFE
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