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Paranal Starry Night

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Night scene at the 2600 metre high Cerro Paranal, home of ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) array.

In this 45-minute exposure, taken on a dark and clear night so typical of one of the best astronomical observing sites in the world, the stars leave trails in their dance around the Celestial South Pole (left).

The four VLT 8.2-m Unit Telescopes are captured during an observation session, with the long exposure resulting in noticeable movement of the domes as the telescopes move to observe different celestial objects.

At the bottom left, the trail left by the Large Magellanic Cloud, one of the Milky Way’s satellite galaxies, is clearly visible. The trails left by the Milky Way and by the very bright stars forming the Southern Cross, are visible above Yepun, Unit Telescope 4, in the foreground. One of the four 1.8 metre Auxiliary Telescopes, used for the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, is seen below the Large Magellanic Cloud, dwarfed by its giant Unit Telescope companions.

The image was taken in March 2008.

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