A 360 degree panorama of a unique cloudscape over La Silla *

A 360 degree panorama view of a rare cloudscape over La Silla, in the southern edges of the Atacama Desert, home of ESO's first observing site. Here ESO operates two major telescopes: the ESO 3.6-metre telescope and the 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT). They are equipped with state-of-the art instruments such as HARPS, the best extrasolar planet finder in the world. The dome in the centre of the image belongs to the ESO 3.6-metre telescope, commissioned in 1977 and completely upgraded in 1999, and to which HARPS is mounted. At the far right of the image is the 15-metre Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST), built in 1987, decommissioned in 2003, and replaced by the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) telescope on the 5100 m Chajnantor plateau.

An amazing interactive virtual tour is available here.