Selfie with the VLT

At first glance it might appear that we have discovered a huge new astronomical object in the sky. In actual fact, ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek has just taken an accidental selfie with the VLT's Unit Telescopes.

In this image, one of the Unit Telescopes is shown using its 4 Laser Guide Star Facility — a state-of-the-art method of adaptive optics that can be employed to reduce the effects of atmospheric turbulence on astronomical images.