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.

This night time long-exposure view shows the telescopes during testing. The very brilliant Moon appears in the centre of the picture and the VISTA (right) and VLT (left) domes can also be seen on the horizon.