Severe Storms Impacting AURA/NOIRLab Operations in Chile
Restoration work continues at NSF NOIRLab's Chilean mountain facilities following a historic winter storm in July 2026.
After several days of fresh rain and snow halted recovery efforts, conditions finally cleared on 18 August, allowing teams to inspect
roads and clear snow once again. The road to Cerro Tololo is in good enough shape for personnel to restore cafeteria and hotel services,
and continue shift work. Cerro Pachón remains more challenging: the road is not yet able to accommodate large water and fuel trucks.
With no additional storm systems forecast for this week or next, teams are hopeful that recovery work can continue without further interruptions.
Updates are posted on this page.
Our Programs
From the first observations in 1965, Cerro Tololo, located in Chile, has served as the principal platform for U.S. astronomical investigation of the southern skies.
Programs within the Community Science and Data Center support and enable a broad range of astronomical community science activities across the US ground-based optical and infrared system.
Founded in 1958, Kitt Peak National Observatory is home to one of the largest arrays of optical and radio telescopes in the world.
The Gemini Observatory consists of twin 8.1-meter diameter optical/infrared telescopes located on two of the best observing sites on the planet.
Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, is an 8-meter-class telescope coupled to a 3.2-gigapixel camera – the world’s largest digital camera ever fabricated for optical astronomy.