Evening at the Paranal Observatory (13 April 1998)

When the Sun sets behind the Pacific, the domes are opened at Paranal and the four giant VLT telescopes turn towards the stars....

This dream will soon come true. Following the "First Light" of the UT1, the other telescopes at Paranal will become operational at regular intervals. And within the next years, the first observations will also be made with some of the elements of the VLT Interferometer.

In this evening view, obtained about half an hour after sunset, the UT1 telescope structure is seen through the dome slit. The assembly of UT2 is well on its way in the next dome and the first parts of UT3 are in place in the third.