Road to La Silla

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On the road to ESO's La Silla Observatory, with the decommissioned Schmidt telescope on the right. La Silla, in the southern part of the Atacama desert, 600 km north of Santiago de Chile, was ESO's first observation site. The telescopes there are 2400 metres above sea level, providing excellent observing conditions. Currently, ESO operates the 3.6-m telescope, the New Technology Telescope (NTT), and the 2.2-m Max-Planck-ESO telescope at La Silla. La Silla also hosts national telescopes, such as the 1.2-m Swiss Telescope and the 1.5-m Danish Telescope.

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