APEX image calendar, October 2010 — Sun avoidance*

The Sun lies hidden by the secondary mirror of APEX, the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment telescope on the Chajnantor plateau in Chile's Atacama region, 5,100 metres above sea level. APEX is the largest submillimetre-wavelength telescope operating in the southern hemisphere, observing the cold and distant Universe for astronomers. At one of the highest observatory sites on the planet, the Sun beats mercilessly down through the thin atmosphere.

This image is available as a mounted image in the ESOshop.