For the second consecutive year, Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) participated in the Paseo de la Ciencia (Science Walk) of the Puerto de Ideas Festival, held in Antofagasta between April 21 and 24, 2022.
This year, the activity was face-to-face and took place at Sitio Cero, located next to Mallplaza and the Huanchaca Ruins.
LCO travelled with the Mobile Laboratory “Conciencia Astronomía”, operated alongside the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the Ecoscience Foundation, where experiments on light, optics and telescopes were carried out. In addition, LCO set up an inclusive exhibition with the inclusive outreach initiative, Dedoscopio, to explain, through touch, different objects in the Solar System to visually impaired people.
Children and young people mainly visited the stand and the mobile laboratory during the week, whereas the general public, on the weekend. About a thousand people enjoyed both experiences.
After the Science Walk, on April 25, the mobile laboratory visited the Juan José Latorre Educational Complex in Mejillones. The following day, the sample arrived at the General Manuel Baquedano School, F-78, in Sierra Gorda. In both establishments, experiments on optics were carried out with enthusiastic groups of students.
The Puerto de Ideas festival is presented in cooperation with Escondida BH.