Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science (CIS). It is in the southern Atacama Desert of Chile in the Atacama Region approximately northeast of the city of La Serena. The LCO telescopes and other facilities are near the north end of a long mountain ridge. Cerro Las Campanas, near the southern end and over high, is the future home of the Giant Magellan Telescope.