UC Chile Joins Space Mission to Discover Exoplanets
The UC Chile Center for Astro Engineering has developed an advanced astronomical instrument, placing Chile at the forefront of the global search for Earth-like exoplanets.
photo_camera Leonardo Vanzi, UC Chile Engineering professor and lead designer and builder of the spectrograph.
After years of collaborative work within an international consortium that includes UC Chile, the groundbreaking first light of PLATOSpec has been achieved.
Bridging Earth and Space: Chile’s Role in the PLATO Mission
This state-of-the-art instrument marks Chile's entry into the European Space Agency's (ESA) PLATO mission, scheduled for launch in 2026. PLATOSpec will play a pivotal role in identifying the most promising candidates for life beyond our solar system.
“Following the restoration of ESO’s 1.52-meter telescope at the La Silla Observatory, we achieved the instrument’s first light within the planned schedule. Now, we are ready to conduct astronomical observations and support the PLATO space mission directly from Chile,” explains Leonardo Vanzi, UC Chile Engineering professor and lead designer of the spectrograph.
Vanzi, who holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Florence, Italy, leads the Instrumentation Laboratory at the UC Chile Center for Astro Engineering, where together with his team, he restored the previously inactive telescope.
This achievement, he emphasized, reflects years of dedication to astronomical instrumentation and technology at UC Chile that has enabled collaboration with the world’s leading research centers.
Why Small Telescopes Still Matter
“Small telescopes, like ESO’s 1.52-meter, are essential counterparts to giant telescopes. They are vital for promoting the development and prototyping of new technologies and for training new scientists, astronomers, engineers, and technicians,” explains Professor Vanzi.
The PLATOSpec consortium includes:
- the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, responsible for modernizing the telescope;
- the Thuringian State Observatory Tautenburg, Germany, which developed the instrument’s calibration unit;
- and Chile's Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, tasked with data processing and analysis.
The project has received financial support from Chile’s National Research and Development Agency (ANID) through its Fondecyt, Quimal, and Basal CATA programs.
