Panoramic view with La Silla

This unique panoramic view of the La Silla area stretches across an angle of nearly 270° and was obtained by combining nine 6x9 cm exposures with a Linhof Technika camera. It was made at sunset from a point near the access road that descends to the Pelicano Camp at the entry to the ESO area. The ESO 3.6-metre telescope tower is at the left on the observatory ridge, the living quarters are to the far right of the site and many of the telescope domes are seen in between. Photograph and computer work by Hans Hermann Heyer (ESO). The La Silla Observatory is located in the Chilean Atacama Desert, one of the driest and loneliest areas of the world. The land around this isolated peak was acquired in 1964 and following some years of construction work, the inauguration of ESO's first observatory took place in March 1969. The solitude of this remote desert site is well illustrated by the above panorama, obtained in 1996.

An amazing interactive virtual tour is available.