A Collection of Telescopes

Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, can be seen slicing through the centre of this striking 360-degree shot from ESO's La Silla Observatory in the Chilean Atacama Desert. Starting at the bottom left, the ESO 1-metre Schmidt telescope looms towards the camera, to its right, slightly in the background is the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope, with its shinier, metallic, ribbed dome. Looping around to the top left-middle, the ESO 3.6-metre New Technology Telescope cuts an angular figure, rising to the right of yet another domed telescope. Finally, the NTT's round-topped neighbour is, upon close inspection, actually a large dome with a smaller, dome-topped column next to it. The large dome houses ESO's 3.6-metre telescope, while the adjacent smaller dome is the now-decommissioned Coudé Auxiliary Telescope.