NSF-funded ACEAP selected nine informal and formal educators to learn more about ground-based U.S. astronomy in Chile. The participants toured facilities, attended educational talks and got immersed in astronomy culture in the Southern Hemisphere.

Credit: Peter Detterline

Reuniting at NRAO's Green Bank Telescope, ACEAP participants used the opportunity to capture the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope at night surrounded by star trails.

Credit: Renae Kerrigan and Peter Detterline

Chile's Atacama Desert provides an optimal setting for ground-based astronomy with it's "high and dry" environment.

Credit: Shannon Schmoll

No, it's not R2D2, it's the NSF-funded NOAO Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory's Blanco Telescope and a glimpse of the night sky in Chile, where precipitation is so rare the region went through a 40-year dry spell at one point.

Credit: Michael Prokosch

At 16,597 feet, the Atacama Desert may be ideal for ground-based astronomy but it is cold and windy in the winter time. It also often requires oxygen supplementation with folks new to the area, like Renae Kerrigan, ACEAP participant.

Credit: Tim Spuck