Vallenar, capital of the Chilean province of Huasco, is located some 90 km north of the La Silla observatory site. Established at the southern edge of the Atacama desert in 1789 by Ambrosio O'Higgins as Villa San Ambrosio de Ballenary, Vallenar now has a population of 53~000 and is famous for iron mining and sweet grapes.
Avastatud: 9-7-1978 Avastamiskoht: La Silla Avastajad: Schuster, H.-E.