Sunrise at the VLT platform

The Sun is about to rise at ESO's Paranal Observatory. The clearness of the atmosphere can be appreciated in the picture, not only from the bright colours, but also because stars and the Milky Way itself are well distinguishable although they are still very low on the horizon, in spite of the twilight. On the left, the conic shape of the 6739 metre high Llullaillaco volcano can be seen. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) consists of four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes (UTs) and four 1.8-metre movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs). The position of the ATs can be changed across the VLT platform between 30 different stations, two of them are visible in this picture.