On December 18, 2015，the Council Meeting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA) was held in  National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC). Prof. Zhongli Ding, Vice President of CAS & Director of the Council, attended the meeting and gave important suggestions and guidance to CASSACA. There are more than 30 attendees coming from CAS administration divisions, the institutes in CAS Observatory system and Universities. 

Prof. Zhong Wang, Director of CASSACA, reported the overall progress and achievements of the Center obtained in 2015. Prof. Jiasheng Huang, Chief Scientist of CASSACA, specially introduced the progress in research and scientific programs in the past. Then the Council gave full affirmation on the achievements and progress by the Center. The Council gave practical guidance and suggestions to the Center’s development and future plans. Two new members were approved to join the Council.  

CASSACA has achieved remarkable results and progress in the past, over its collaborations with Chilean institutions and scientists, on the scientific researches, programs and projects. Especially, the CASSACA set up the China-Chile astronomical data center with cooperation with Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria of Chile and Huawei company of China. Prime Minister Keqiang Li and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet witnessed the signing ceremony of the data center in May 2015. The system run stably and went into the stage of software debugging and commissioning since November 2015. 

CASSACA was set up in 2013 and has been playing an important role on the international collaborations in Astronomy between China and Chile together with other South America countries. 

Council Meeting 

Group Photo