Mounted image 126: The VLT in Action

The ESO Very Large Telescope during observations. In this picture, taken at twilight, the four giant 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes (UTs) are visible. From left to right, their names in the Mapuche language are Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun. A laser beam launched from UT4 (Yepun) creates an artificial guide-star in the Earth's atmosphere, which allows astronomers to remove the effects of atmospheric turbulence, producing images almost as sharp as if the telescope were in space.

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