The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere, commonly referred to as the European Southern Observatory, is an intergovernmental research organisation made up of 16 m
The ESO headquarters in Garching, Germany, in 1997
The same site in 2014, a year after a new extension was built (in the foreground)
Directors general of ESO (from left to right): Lodewijk Woltjer, Harry van der Laan, Catherine Cesarsky, Tim de Zeeuw and Xavier Barcons
La Silla cluster of telescopes
Very Large Telescope
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The Very Large Telescope is an astronomical facility operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It consists of four ind
European Southern Observatory
…and most technologically advanced telescopes. These include the 3.6 m New Technology Telescope, an early pioneer in the use of active optics, and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), which consists of four individual 8.2 m telescopes and four smaller auxiliary telescopes which can all work together or separately. The Atacama…
The four Unit Telescopes that form the VLT together with the four Auxiliary Telescopes (VST at right)
VLT's four Unit Telescopes
Laser used for adaptive optics. It excites sodium atoms in the atmosphere and creates a laser guide star.
Upgrading Yepun (UT4) with the "Adaptive Optics Facility" in 2012