Latitude, longitude and altitude of Ckoirama Observatory; where can things like this be looked-up?

Question

This answer to Is Starlink 1130 (Darksat) really dimmer? links to the March 16, 2020 paper in arXiv First observations and magnitude measurement of SpaceX's Darksat which finds only a modest decrease in brightness:

Results. The calibration, image processing and analysis of the Darksat Sloan g’ image gives an estimated Sloan g’ magnitude of 7.57±0.04 at a range of 976.50 km. For STARLINK-1113 an estimated Sloan g’ magnitude of 6.69±0.05 at a range of 941.62 km was found. When scaled to a range of 550 km, a reduction of (55 % ± 4.8 %) is seen in the reflected solar flux between Darksat and STARLINK-1113.

The v1 preprint says

...using the longitude(24.1° west) and latitude (69.9°south) of the Ckoirama observatory...

which puts the Ckoirama observatory under about 4500 meters of freezing antarctic water (first image).

If I invert the latitude and longitude assignments it returns to the Atacama desert where it belongs. If I instead type "Ckoirama observatory" in maps.google.com I get a pin on a map near 24.0894 S, 69.9305 W but the satellite image only shows a hole in the ground. (second image)

click images for full size

The sidebar says:

Antofagasta, Chile W369+6Q Yungay, Antofagasta, Chile
astro.uantof.cl
+56 55 263 xxxx
Open now:  Open 24 hours

That link leads to http://www.astro.uantof.cl/research/observatorios/ckoirama-observatory/ which is very informative but has no latitude, longitude or altitude information. 5 Awesome Observatories Around The World mentions that Ckoirama is;

the first observatory built by Chilean engineers

and links to Astrotourism in Chile but no specific information.

Question: What are the latitude, longitude and altitude of Ckoirama observatory? Is there a central location where coordinates like these can be looked up?

Answer 1

Near the pinned location, at 24.0893°S 69.9306°W, Bing Maps shows a building like the one in the University of Antofagasta photos, with signs of recent construction.

It's probably a matter of time until Google updates their satellite imagery in that region.

The Minor Planet Center maintains a list of observatory codes with positional information. A related page there says:

The KML file of observatory-code locations has been removed, following a request from some Spanish observers concerned about security at remote, unattended sites.

Answer 2

A list of "everything in the world" is difficult to create and also maintain: it needs both a dedicated maintainer as well as people who supply the maintainer with the information. Thus on the latter any list will fail for some cases.

The most comprehensible list I know is the ESO-maintained list of observatories: https://www.eso.org/~ndelmott/obs_sites.html

Answer 3

Question: What are the latitude, longitude and altitude of Ckoirama observatory? Is there a central location where coordinates like these can be looked up?

I can confirm that there was a typo in our publication regarding the longitude and latitude of the Ckoirama observatory. They are in fact longitude = -69.93058889; latitude = -24.08913333; altitude = 966m (mean sea level). These values are recorded direct from the GPS locator system at the telescope.

As for the shed comment....The enclosure is not a standard dome as normally used. Due to the strong westerly thermal winds in this part of the Atacama, it was decided that a flat manoeuvrable roof was the best option for a small 0.6m telescope. A domed enclosure would induce wind pointing restrictions, which would restrict the number of observing nights per year.

Google maps is out of date, so I include some photos of the Ckoirama observatory, one of which shows one of the Starlink satellites.. .

Answer 4

What are the latitude, longitude and altitude of Ckoirama observatory?

You already found the latitude and longitude at Google maps: 24.0894 S, 69.9305 W. As far as the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is concerned, Google Earth / Google maps and GPS receiver coordinates are the only preferred sources for the location of an astronomical observatory.

The Minor Planet Center maintains for the IAU a list of astronomical observatories "that report astrometric observations of minor planets, comets or irregular natural satellites" The Minor Planet Center's listing of observatory codes is therefore not a complete listing of observatories worldwide."

From the MPC's page on Updating Locations for Observatory Codes, emphasis mine:

What to Report

When reporting updated coordinates for your site, be sure to include the following information:
- Longitude (in sexagesimal form, to 0.1" or better, preferably 0.01")
- Latitude (in sexagesimal form, to 0.1" or better, preferably 0.01")
- Altitude (in meters)
- Source for coordinates
-- If source is Google Earth, please simply state this.
-- If source is GPS, please state this and indicate whether the altitude is referred to the WGS84 ellipsoid or to mean sea level.
-- Use of other sources is strongly discouraged.

At the bottom of the same page, the MPC issues a disclaimer:

The MPC has no connection with Google Earth, but is simply a satisfied user of the service.