[05/02/2026]
On January 8, the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Faperj) published a video on its YouTube channel presenting the participation of the Brazilian Center for Research in Physics (CBPF) in the construction of the Southern Wide-Field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO), which will be installed at Pampa La Bola, in the Atacama Desert, Chile.
Ulisses Barres de Almeida, Director of CLAF and one of the project leaders, highlights that through this initiative Brazil—long a pioneering country in the study of astronomy—has become one of the world leaders in this field.
“The construction of the first very-high-energy gamma-ray observatory in the Southern Hemisphere is a major international collaboration involving 16 countries, which demonstrates the importance and relevance of this research area worldwide. Brazil is one of the three leading countries of SWGO, alongside the United States and Germany.”
The project recalls the pioneering legacy of physicist Cesar Lattes, who played a fundamental role in the creation of CBPF in 1949 and in the structuring of what are now Brazil’s science and technology institutions. According to Márcio Portes de Albuquerque, Director of CBPF,
“It revives the concept of regional cooperation, because while it is part of international scientific collaborations, it is an observatory located in Latin America.”
Through the joint involvement of Brazil and Chile in the project, Latin America participates in this important international collaboration in a leading role. This will allow for closer collaboration with South American neighbors, shifting part of the scientific “center of gravity” of the project—and of the field—from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere.
The observatory is expected to operate in the study of the most intense phenomena in the universe, as well as in investigations of dark matter, which accounts for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe, although its nature remains unknown.
SWGO will consist of a network of 4,000 Cherenkov tanks distributed over a large area of 1 km², at an altitude of nearly 5,000 meters in the Andes. For the production of the tanks, the project relied on the support of a Brazilian company, whose task was to adapt them to the specific demands and requirements of the astronomical project.
Scientific demand has driven the development of new technologies that are already being applied in agribusiness, demonstrating the potential for cooperation between science, technology, and innovation, as well as between academia and industry, working at the frontier of knowledge.
Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdmrJ9bZZ28
Learn more about the project: https://www.swgo.org/SWGOWiki/doku.php
More about CLAF's support to the project: https://claffisica.org.br/page/claf-and-mcti-high-level-seminar