This facility is the closest major optical observatory to the equator lying at 8 degrees and 47.51 minutes north.

It benefits from a very dark site, and its altitude of 3,600 meters (12,000 feet) above sea level means atmospheric turbulence is greatly reduced.

CIDA conducts many projects in collaboration with other research organizations, academic institutions and international bodies.

It now uses the 48 inch (1.22-m) aperture Samuel Oschin telescope at the Palomar Observatory with a digital camera, an array of 112 charge-coupled devices.

At OAN de Llano del Hato, Mérida, a total of 50 minor planets have been discovered and credited to the astronomers Orlando Naranjo, Jürgen Stock, Ignacio Ferrín and Carlos Leal:[1]