Panorama of the Chilean night sky

This Quicktime interactive panorama movie shows the night sky over ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile and reveals its incredible richness and beauty.

To launch the panorama please click the link on the right under QuickTime VR.

To navigate this dual landscape and starscape, left-click on the image and continue pressing the button as you drag the mouse in the direction you would like to see. To zoom in and out, press "shift" or "ctrl".

Moving towards the right, the panorama shows the Milky Way band blazing over the horizon. Ascending the mountain that comes into view, one sees ESO’s Very Large Telescope array and the red beam of its Laser Guide Star. Still further right, the VISTA peak rises, with the lingering Gegenschein aglow above it. Other sights in the sky over Paranal include the Andromeda Galaxy, the Pleiades and the Hyades star clusters, the constellation of Orion, and the brightest star in the sky Sirius, seen low on the horizon. The Milky Way’s galactic neighbours, the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds, also shine brightly overhead.

Another interactive panorama also taken from Paranal on a different night and with the constellations highlighted is available at: http://www.astrosurf.com/sguisard/Anim-astro/Paranal-ZL-MW/SGU-Paranal-Zodiacal_Light-MW-const_names.html

Happy viewing.