The Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) at Paranal

The Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) is located at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in northern Chile. This project will search for transiting exoplanets — planets that pass in front of their parent star and hence produce a slight dimming of the star’s light that can be detected by sensitive instruments. The telescopes will focus on discovering Neptune-sized and smaller planets, with diameters between two and eight times that of Earth.

Most of the 20-centimetre telescopes that form the survey system are shown in this picture taken during testing.