Dr. Tieniu Tan, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), visited Chile on May 6-8, 2016, as invited by the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT), the University of Chile and the Chinese Academy of Sciences South America Center for Astronomy (CASSACA).  

In the morning of May 6, Dr. Tan met Dr. Mario Hummuy, the new CONICYT director, and Dr. Guido Girardi, Chilean Senator, and discussed potential collaborations between the two countries in astronomy and other aspects of science and technology. Then, Dr. Tan visited the China-Chile Astronomical Data Center (CCADC) and advised the Center for its long-term development. CCADC is the first major collaborative project led by CASSACA. It aims to enable Chinese and Chilean astronomers to better process astronomical data obtained from large telescopes. 

In the afternoon, Dr. Tan visited the Department of Astronomy at the University of Chile. There, he expressed gratitude to director Dr. Guido Garay for the department’s help in the development of CASSACA and discussed future plans for the Center. Dr. Tan then visited the CASSACA office and was introduced to its staff and researchers. Dr. Tan applauded the significant achievements of CASSACA during the past three years, and he encouraged the staff in their efforts to build international scientific cooperation, to drive cutting edge astronomical research, and to develop the Center as a platform for China-Chile collaborations in astronomy and other areas of research. Dr. Tan also met the Chinese Ambassador in Chile, Mr. Baorong Li, and the President of the Chilean Academy of Sciences, Madam Maria Teresa Ruiz, and exchanged ideas with them regarding China-Chile collaborations and CASSACA. 

On May 7-8, Dr Tan went to northern Chile to visit the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) and three other telescopes dedicated to Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) research. These were the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS), and the POLARBEAR telescopes. All these are assembled on a 5,060 meter-high plateau. Together, these facilities represent the state-of-the-art science and technology in radio astronomy and are the results of a wide-range of international collaborations. Dr. Tan's visit is among the first that CAS leaders made to the 5,000+ meter sites in Chile.  

Dr. Xiaoyu Hong, Director General of Shanghai Astronomical Observatories, CAS, Xiaoou Chen, Commissioner of Science and Technology, Chinese Embassy in Chile, Dr. Zhong Wang, Director of CASSACA, Wei Wang, Deputy Director of CASSACA, and Dr. Meng Su of MIT joined the visit. 

Group Photo at CASSACA