In the delimitation between Puebla and Veracruz there is a thousand-year-old dormant volcano known as La Sierra Negra, whose peak, the fifth highest in the country, houses the Alfonso Serrano Large Millimeter Telescope, the largest of its kind in the world. To reach the top, you must traverse the highest highway in North America.
Among the municipalities of Puebla Sesma chalchicomula and atzitzintlainside of the Pico de Orizaba National Park it’s found La Sierra Negra, a volcano of approximately 200 thousand years old considered extinct.
black saw It is covered by a mixed forest, which protects among its immensity the world’s largest telescope of its kind and a national observatory. Learn more about this incredible mountain in Puebla, the names it has received over time, and the projects to observe the cosmos that are open to visitors.
Do you like space and mountaineering? Visit Sierra Negra in Puebla and marvel at the fifth highest mountain in Mexico, the Alfonso Serrano Large Millimeter Telescope and the UNAM Gamma Ray Observatory.
Sierra Negra, the extinct volcano of Puebla
the volcano of black saw It has a height of 4,585 meters above sea level and is considered the fifth highest peak in Mexico. He Magic Town of Tehuacán It is 1 hour away, there you can find tours and guides to explore the mountain.
Because it is very close to the Citlaltepetlbetter known as the Pico de Orizaba (The highest mountain in Mexico), Tliltépetl (Montaña Negra) or Sierra Negra is one of the perfect terrains for mountaineering more ignored by guides, experts and enthusiasts of high altitude sports.
To the black saw It is also known by the name of Iztactepetl Icni which means “brother of the White Mountain”, as the Pico de Orizaba is known. It is also often called atlitzínwhich means “Venerable Lord of the Water” or “Our Lady of the Agüita”. black hill It is the official name given to it by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, but it is not widely used.
Get to know Puebla without leaving home, here!
Why is it called a saw? The territory that includes the mountain and the volcano is usually called sierra by an old custom, originating in the viceregal era, in which the mountain giants were called that way.
The Adolfo Serrano Large Millimeter Telescope
He GTM It is a mobile single-dish telescope designed to observe radio waves between 0.85 and 4 millimeters. With an area of 50 meters in diameter, The Adolfo Serrano Large Millimeter Telescope is the largest of its kind in the world.
As a binational project between Mexico and the United States, the Alfonso Serrano telescope was born thanks to the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics (INAOE) based in San Andres Cholula, Puebla; in conjunction with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
In 1994 the treaties began to build the Adolfo Serrano Telescope, work that began in 1998. The INAOE gave it the name of Adolfo Serrano in honor of its main promoter in 2012 and in 2013 began its first period of scientific observations; Since then, his results have supported dozens of investigations.
The specialty of Adolfo Serrano Large Millimeter Telescope It is to observe thermally cold objects, which enjoy an enormous amount of stellar dust or molecular gas. The observation and study of the structures of which the universe is composed is its greatest objective.; helping important research and the training of new scientists and engineers.
The access road to the imposing telescope is known as the highest road in North America, as it is located at one of the highest points of the Sierra Negra.
A weekend in Puebla de Zaragoza!
HAWC, the National Gamma Ray Laboratory in Sierra Negra
He hawc (Whose initials mean High Altitude Water Cherenkov) is an observatory between Sierra Negra and Pico de Orizaba that came to light in 2008 and in 2009 began to study the cosmos.
the national gamma ray laboratory, HAWC, is made up of a water reserve of 300 by 300 meters in area and 8 meters deep; His job is to study the most violent regions of the universe that surrounds us and of distant galaxies, observing the interaction between massive energies that result in gamma rays that can be observed from Earth and often reach it. The residues of these ultra-powerful energy explosions are absorbed by the atmosphere before reaching us.