SEST atop La Silla

The Swedish–ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST) overlooks the dramatic terrain of the Chilean Atacama Desert from atop the La Silla Observatory in this spectacular shot from northern Chile.

SEST was the only large sub-millimetre telescope in the southern hemisphere at the time of first light. It was decommissioned in 2003, and superseded by APEX and ALMA on the Chajnantor Plateau.