Auxiliary ready for the skies

The ESO-operated Very Large Telescope (VLT) is based at the Cerro Paranal site in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is the world's most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes (UTs) with main mirror diametres of 8.2m each, and four smaller Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8m. An AT can be seen here, open and observing our stunning home galaxy.