VLT on stage

A view of the platform of the Very Large Telescope array (VLT) — the flagship facility for European ground-based astronomy. Shown are the four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter. Together with the four movable 1.8m diameter Auxiliary Telescopes (three shown left) they can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer. This allows astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes.