Looking to the future

The VLT´s Auxiliary Telescope 2 (AT2) during late afternoon, when shadows stretch over the Mars-like landscape around ESO´s Paranal Observatory and the desert colours turn warmer. Composed of four 8.2-metre Unit Telescope (UTs) plus four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) and located some 120 km south of Antofagasta in northern Chile, the ESO´s Very Large Telescope (VLT) is the world´s most advanced optical ground based astronomical facility. Only about 20 km away from Paranal and clearly visible in the background at the centre of the picture is the 3046 metres high Cerro Armazones, the selected site of the 40-metre-class Extremely Large Telescope (ELT), the world´s biggest eye on the sky.