Cerro Paranal and Cerro Armazones in Chile

This aerial view shows beautifully the Chilean Atacama Desert around the ESO Paranal Observatory, home to the Very Large Telescope (seen at the bottom right). Close to the VLT, one can see the dome of the VISTA survey telescope, and to the right, the Paranal Residence and basecamp. The high peak in the distance is the 6739-metre high volcano belonging to the Andes, Llullaillaco. Also in the image, to the middle left, one can see an isolated peak with a curvy road leading to its summit. This is Cerro Armazones, the selected home for the future European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT).