Las Campanas Observatory

Las Campanas Observatory  is an astronomical observatory in the southern Atacama desert in Chile.  It is owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science. It was built in 1969 as the main observing site for the Carnegie Institution for Science. The headquarters are located in La Serena, Chile and the observatory is about  northeast of the city. The observatory is at  above sea level.

On February 24, 1987, Ian Shelton and Oscar Duhalde first saw the Supernova 1987A (SN 1987A).

Telescopes
 Magellan Telescopes — Two 6.5m telescopes, Magellan 1 named after Walter Baade and Magellan II after Landon Clay
 Du Pont Telescope — 2.5-meter (100-inch), named after Irénée du Pont and in operation since 1977 
 Swope Telescope — 1m, named after Henrietta Swope
 Warsaw Telescope — 1.3 m, owned by Warsaw University Observatory
 Giant Magellan Telescope (under construction) — 24.5 m effective (seven 8.4 m segments)
 NANTEN Telescope (closed) — 4m millimeter-wavelength radio telescope, transported to Atacama desert, Chile.

There are also the small "Pi of the sky" wide-angle cameras that filmed the gamma ray burst GRB 080319B in 2008. This was the largest explosion ever seen in the Universe, and could have been seen without a telescope.

Other websites
Las Campanas Observatory 
Carnegie Institution for Science 

References

Category:Astronomical observatories in Chile
Category:Atacama Region