Situated in the Atacama Desert, northern Chile, at 2,635m above sea level exists the Paranal Observatory. Operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), the site contains mankind’s most advanced optical instrument, the Very Large Telescope (VLT), as well as a number of other state-of-the-art auxiliary and survey telescopes – most notably the VLT Survey Telescope and VISTA.
The VLT itself is comprised of four unit telescopes, which in 2011 gained the ability to work together to create the VLT Interferometer; an instrument that allows astronomers to see details up to 25 times greater than the individual telescopes can alone. Needless to say, the results offer a staggeringly beautiful view of our cosmos.
You can view many more Paranal Observatory and ESO images on the ESO website. A short film comprised of time lapses from the Paranal Observatory was also released last year. This is embedded below. Fullscreen that mother.
Posted by: Owen Perry
Instagram: Circa 1983
Pretty incredible stuff! Thanks for sharing =)
Amazing! Thanks so much for sharing this. The number of stars that are visible are just a small portion of what’s out there—it’s unbelievable.
It’s hard for me to believe that so many people think all this just happened by accident.
Thanks again.
That first shot, in particular, is amazing. Thanks, as always, for bringing awesome stuff to my attention.