VLT spies on the Milky Way

This image shows one of the Unit Telescopes of ESO's Very Large Telescope array (VLT). In this image, one of the Unit Telescopes, UT4, points a laser beam towards the Milky Way to create an artificial star. This Laser Guide Star (LGS) is part of the Adaptive Optics system, which allows astronomers to remove the effects of atmospheric turbulence, producing images almost as sharp as if the telescope was in space.

This image was taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Juan Carlos Muñoz-Mateos.