The VLT platform

The ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) atop Cerro Paranal, a 2600-metre high mountain, located some 120 km south from Antofagasta, in the Atacama Desert of Chile. In this picture taken from the VLT platform looking north-northwest, the four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes (UTs) are visible. The UTs were also given names from the Mapuche language: from left to right, Antu (the Sun), Kueyen (the Moon), Melipal (the Southern Cross) and Yepun (Venus). In front of the UTs, three of the four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) are also visible. The ATs are entirely dedicated to interferometry, a technique which allows astronomers to combine their light to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The configuration of the ATs can be changed across the platform by moving them between 30 different observing positions.