Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Can you visit Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory? Yes

Occasional public visits via NOIRLab programs; check site.

A public night at an observatory usually starts at dusk with a short talk, then a line at the eyepiece of the main telescope for the Moon, a planet or a bright cluster, with volunteers' smaller telescopes set up outside. Dress for the night air even in summer: domes are not heated, so the telescope stays at outside temperature. Many nights sell out or cancel for clouds, so check the observatory's site on the day.

Telescopes at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

multiple telescopes.

multi-telescope complex: 10 observatories on one site

• E-MERLINResearch observatory
• Jodrell Bank ObservatoryPublic observatory, open to the public
• La Silla ObservatoryPublic observatory, open to the public
• Las Campanas ObservatoryPublic observatory, open to the public
• Llano de Chajnantor ObservatoryResearch observatory
• Mullard Radio Astronomy ObservatoryResearch observatory
• Paranal ObservatoryPublic observatory, open to the public
• Rolf Chini Cerro Murphy ObservatoryResearch observatory
• Siding Spring ObservatoryPublic observatory, open to the public

• Jobs at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

How dark the sky is at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory has no Bortle rating in the list yet. The scale below shows what each class looks like.

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added, at the coordinates below. Research telescopes are often sited on mountains above the haze, so the real sky can be darker than the map suggests.

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory among the observatories of Chile

Green dots are observatories open to the public, blue dots research or private sites, squares dark sky places; select one for its page. See Observatories in Chile for the full list.

The coordinates on this page point to Cerro Tololo summit: 30.169°S, 70.806°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Mountain observatory roads are often gated after dark; go only on a scheduled public night.

Dark sky places, observatories and clubs near Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory sits inside Gabriela Mistral Dark Sky Sanctuary, a Bortle Class 2 dark sky place. See Gabriela Mistral Dark Sky Sanctuary for camping, where to set up and the sky by season.

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• SMARTS TelescopesVicuna, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 0 km (0 mi). Free Saturday daytime tours of Cerro Tololo by reservation through NOIRLab/CTIO
• Vera C. Rubin ObservatoryVicuna, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 10 km (6 mi). Public visits to Cerro Pachon by reservation through NOIRLab; spaces fill quickly
• Gemini South ObservatoryCerro Pachon, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 10 km (6 mi). Occasional organized visits via NOIRLab; no regular public night program
• ESO 3.6m TelescopeLa Silla, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 101 km (63 mi). Part of ESO La Silla public visits (Saturdays; book ahead)
• New Technology TelescopeLa Silla, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 101 km (63 mi). Part of ESO La Silla public visits
• La Silla ObservatoryLa Silla, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 102 km (63 mi). Free guided visits Saturdays 10 am and 2 pm Sep-Mar; Sat and Sun 10 am Apr-Aug; book ahead

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory record

From the site's observatories dataset (observatoriesglobal_q426). Distances are computed from the coordinates.