The facility is operated by ESO in the Chilean Andes

Sep 24, 2012 08:48 GMT  ·  By
Three of the four main telescopes at ESO (click for the full-resolution image)
   Three of the four main telescopes at ESO (click for the full-resolution image)

Since the Very Large Telescope (VLT) is undoubtedly my favorite observatory of all time, I couldn't possibly ignore (and not share) this new image released by the European Southern Observatory (ESO), showing the facility at sunset.

Located at the ESO Paranal Observatory, in Chile, the VLT works through a technique called optical interferometry, which takes the light captured by the four main telescopes at the facility, and combines it in a single image. This enables very high-resolution images of the night sky.

In addition to the four fixed, 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes (UT), the VLT also features four movable, 1.8-meter Auxiliary Telescopes (AT), which you can see in the background, to the left of the photo. The facility has been operational for more than 13 years.

The four main telescopes are named in the ancient language Mapuche, spoken long ago in Chile and Argentina. UT1 is called Antu (the Sun), UT2 is known as Kueyen (the Moon), UT3 is designated Melipal (the Southern Cross), and UT4 is dubbed Yepun (Venus).