Aerial photo of Cerro Paranal

This aerial photo of the Paranal mountain, the designated site for the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT), was obtained on 22 March 1994.

Paranal is located in the driest part of the Chilean Atacama desert, approx. 130 km south of the city of
Antofagasta, and about 12 km from the Pacific Ocean. The altitude is 2650 metres.

The top of the mountain has been levelled to make place for the extensive VLT installations. The four excavations for the buildings that will house the four 8.2 metre VLT unit telescopes are clearly seen. The positions of some of the future structures have been marked. The control building will be located on the platform at the rightmost edge of the mountain.