To watch the sky is also to harvest
A night to learn to read the sky with the naked eye, observe it through professional telescopes and taste the fruits of the Elqui land.
From the ancient light of the stars to the flavors of the Elqui Valley: a night to discover the universe with all your senses.
Four ways to live the night
≈ 3 HOURS
With the naked eye
Together we'll learn to find our way around the night sky without any instrument. Your eyes are the first telescope.
Telescopes
We observe star clusters, nebulae and deep-space galaxies with professional equipment.
Astrophotography
Live digital observation: the universe captured in real time, right in front of you, with astrophotography telescopes.
Flavors of Elqui
Throughout the night, between one observation and the next: jams, sweets, seasonal fruit juices, cheeses, meats, wines and local spirits — depending on what's available.
Three telescopes, three views
Each instrument reveals a different layer of the sky — from the great reflector for visual observation to the astrophotography refractor.
Sky-Watcher Dobson 300p
Maximum light-gathering for direct visual observation: the Moon, the planets, open and globular clusters, and bright nebulae.
William Optics GT81
Our astrophotography instrument. Wide-field apochromatic optics to capture the deep sky with a professional camera.
Celestron C11
Large aperture and long focal length. Maximum detail on planets and the Moon — to look through the eyepiece and shoot with your phone.
Astronomy in good hands
Jorge Valencia
I'm a Computer Engineer, with a Diploma in Fundamentals of Astronomy (University of Chile).
The sky has had my head spinning since I was a kid. My final thesis ended up being about ALMA, training engineers on the observatory's software with robotic telescopes lent to us by ESO. Then came twenty years of corporate software, until the pandemic, when our family bought a telescope with no idea where it would take us.
It brought us here to the Elqui Valley, and we started dreaming of doing this for real. I run these nights because I want to give back something of what this sky gave me: to swap the screen for an eyepiece and stand next to you the first time you see Saturn.
Patricia Trejo
I'm a Computer Engineer, with an MSc in Computer Engineering Sciences and a degree in Industrial Engineering (Federico Santa María Technical University), and a Diploma in Fundamentals of Astronomy (University of Chile).
I've spent twenty years working in technology, but I came to astronomy as an amateur, with a first telescope and many nights of trial and error in Elqui and Río Hurtado. I learned to find my way around the sky, then to photograph it, and at some point looking stopped being enough: I wanted to understand why a star shines the way it does and how a nebula forms. That's why I went back to studying.
I guide these nights because I believe this sky shouldn't be a privilege for whoever owns gear or has training. We live under one of the best skies on the planet, and every year there is more artificial light covering it. My aim is simple: that you leave here understanding what you're seeing, able to recognise it on your own, and wanting to keep looking up.
Ready to harvest stars?
Book your night under the Elqui sky. We'll write to confirm your date, weather and moon phase.
Book the tour