First rays of sun at the VLT

The first rays of the morning Sun touch the VLT platform, while the surrounding Mars-like landscape is still in the shade. The pink glow in the sky is a phenomenon known as the “Belt of Venus”, produced by the backscattering of the reddened light from the rising or setting Sun. The blue colour below is the shadow of the Earth projected into the atmosphere. The picture was taken from the road to Cerro Armazones.