Our Time Machine at the New Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Cumeada
The official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory and headquarters, located in Cumeada – a small village near Reguengos de Monsaraz – is equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for solar and astronomical purposes. With a totally new design after being re-built and expanded in 2019, a roll-off roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, providing a one life experience under the stars that you can´t skip! If you didn´t try it yet, you must include it as a priority on your bucket list. From observing the planets up to looking at the craters on the moon, everything is possible under an unpolluted sky with the guidance of a professional astronomer from Dark Sky® Alqueva. On moonless nights, you can dive deeper in the sky with your own eyes, embarking on a cosmic journey among nebulae, galaxies and the swarms of stars which rise above us in one of the finest skies in the world.
PT: O Observatório e Sede Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, localizado na Cumeada – uma pequena aldeia perto de Reguengos de Monsaraz – está equipado com telescópios de ponta para fins solares e astronómicos. Com um design totalmente novo, depois de ter sido reconstruído e expandido em 2019, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, proporcionando “a experiência de uma vida” sob um céu estrelado, algo que você não devia perder! Se ainda não tentou, inclua já esta experiência única como uma prioridade a realizar na sua “bucket list”. Desde observar os planetas até olhar as crateras na Lua, tudo é possível sob um céu não poluído, com a orientação de um astrónomo profissional do Dark Sky® Alqueva. Nas noites sem lua, você pode mergulhar mais fundo no céu com seus próprios olhos, embarcando em uma jornada cósmica entre nebulosas, galáxias e enxames de estrelas que se erguem acima de nós, num dos melhores céus do mundo.
Stargazing Inside the New Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Cumeada
The official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory and headquarters, located in Cumeada – a small village near Reguengos de Monsaraz – is equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for solar and astronomical purposes. With a totally new design after being re-built and expanded in 2019, a roll-off roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, providing a one life experience under the stars that you can´t skip! If you didn´t try it yet, you must include it as a priority on your bucket list. From observing the planets up to looking at the craters on the moon, everything is possible under an unpolluted sky with the guidance of a professional astronomer from Dark Sky® Alqueva. On moonless nights, you can dive deeper in the sky with your own eyes, embarking on a cosmic journey among nebulae, galaxies and the swarms of stars which rise above us in one of the finest skies in the world.
PT: O Observatório e Sede Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, localizado na Cumeada – uma pequena aldeia perto de Reguengos de Monsaraz – está equipado com telescópios de ponta para fins solares e astronómicos. Com um design totalmente novo, depois de ter sido reconstruído e expandido em 2019, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, proporcionando “a experiência de uma vida” sob um céu estrelado, algo que você não devia perder! Se ainda não tentou, inclua já esta experiência única como uma prioridade a realizar na sua “bucket list”. Desde observar os planetas até olhar as crateras na Lua, tudo é possível sob um céu não poluído, com a orientação de um astrónomo profissional do Dark Sky® Alqueva. Nas noites sem lua, você pode mergulhar mais fundo no céu com seus próprios olhos, embarcando em uma jornada cósmica entre nebulosas, galáxias e enxames de estrelas que se erguem acima de nós, num dos melhores céus do mundo.
Full Dome Startrail from Inside the Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Cumeada
The official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory and headquarters, located in Cumeada – a small village near Reguengos de Monsaraz – is equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for solar and astronomical purposes. With a totally new design after being re-built and expanded in 2019, a roll-off roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, providing a one life experience under the stars that you can´t skip! If you didn´t try it yet, you must include it as a priority on your bucket list. From observing the planets up to looking at the craters on the moon, everything is possible under an unpolluted sky with the guidance of a professional astronomer from Dark Sky® Alqueva. On moonless nights, you can dive deeper in the sky with your own eyes, embarking on a cosmic journey among nebulae, galaxies and the swarms of stars which rise above us in one of the finest skies in the world. The image features a startrail as result of a sequence of shots taken with a full dome fish-eye lens, from inside the Observatory, in Cumeada.
PT: O Observatório e Sede Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, localizado na Cumeada – uma pequena aldeia perto de Reguengos de Monsaraz – está equipado com telescópios de ponta para fins solares e astronómicos. Com um design totalmente novo, depois de ter sido reconstruído e expandido em 2019, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, proporcionando “a experiência de uma vida” sob um céu estrelado, algo que você não devia perder! Se ainda não tentou, inclua já esta experiência única como uma prioridade a realizar na sua “bucket list”. Desde observar os planetas até olhar as crateras na Lua, tudo é possível sob um céu não poluído, com a orientação de um astrónomo profissional do Dark Sky® Alqueva. Nas noites sem lua, você pode mergulhar mais fundo no céu com seus próprios olhos, embarcando em uma jornada cósmica entre nebulosas, galáxias e enxames de estrelas que se erguem acima de nós, num dos melhores céus do mundo. A imagem revela uma visão full dome de um startrail captado com uma lente fish-eye a partir do Observatório da Cumeada.
Chasing Milky Way from Inside the New Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Cumeada
The official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory and headquarters, located in Cumeada – a small village near Reguengos de Monsaraz – is equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for solar and astronomical purposes. With a totally new design after being re-built and expanded in 2019, a roll-off roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, providing a one life experience under the stars that you can´t skip! If you didn´t try it yet, you must include it as a priority on your bucket list. From observing the planets up to looking at the craters on the moon, everything is possible under an unpolluted sky with the guidance of a professional astronomer from Dark Sky® Alqueva. On moonless nights, you can dive deeper in the sky with your own eyes, embarking on a cosmic journey among nebulae, galaxies and the swarms of stars which rise above us in one of the finest skies in the world.
PT: O Observatório e Sede Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, localizado na Cumeada – uma pequena aldeia perto de Reguengos de Monsaraz – está equipado com telescópios de ponta para fins solares e astronómicos. Com um design totalmente novo, depois de ter sido reconstruído e expandido em 2019, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, proporcionando “a experiência de uma vida” sob um céu estrelado, algo que você não devia perder! Se ainda não tentou, inclua já esta experiência única como uma prioridade a realizar na sua “bucket list”. Desde observar os planetas até olhar as crateras na Lua, tudo é possível sob um céu não poluído, com a orientação de um astrónomo profissional do Dark Sky® Alqueva. Nas noites sem lua, você pode mergulhar mais fundo no céu com seus próprios olhos, embarcando em uma jornada cósmica entre nebulosas, galáxias e enxames de estrelas que se erguem acima de nós, num dos melhores céus do mundo.
Full Dome View from the Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Cumeada
The official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory and headquarters, located in Cumeada – a small village near Reguengos de Monsaraz – is equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for solar and astronomical purposes. With a totally new design after being re-built and expanded in 2019, a roll-off roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, providing a one life experience under the stars that you can´t skip! If you didn´t try it yet, you must include it as a priority on your bucket list. From observing the planets up to looking at the craters on the moon, everything is possible under an unpolluted sky with the guidance of a professional astronomer from Dark Sky® Alqueva. On moonless nights, you can dive deeper in the sky with your own eyes, embarking on a cosmic journey among nebulae, galaxies and the swarms of stars which rise above us in one of the finest skies in the world. The image features a single shot captured with a full dome fish-eye lens.
PT: O Observatório e Sede Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, localizado na Cumeada – uma pequena aldeia perto de Reguengos de Monsaraz – está equipado com telescópios de ponta para fins solares e astronómicos. Com um design totalmente novo, depois de ter sido reconstruído e expandido em 2019, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, proporcionando “a experiência de uma vida” sob um céu estrelado, algo que você não devia perder! Se ainda não tentou, inclua já esta experiência única como uma prioridade a realizar na sua “bucket list”. Desde observar os planetas até olhar as crateras na Lua, tudo é possível sob um céu não poluído, com a orientação de um astrónomo profissional do Dark Sky® Alqueva. Nas noites sem lua, você pode mergulhar mais fundo no céu com seus próprios olhos, embarcando em uma jornada cósmica entre nebulosas, galáxias e enxames de estrelas que se erguem acima de nós, num dos melhores céus do mundo. A imagem revela uma visão full dome captada com uma lente fish-eye.
Our Cosmic Temple – Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Cumeada
The official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory and headquarters, located in Cumeada – a small village near Reguengos de Monsaraz – is equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for solar and astronomical purposes. With a totally new design after being re-built and expanded in 2019, a roll-off roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, providing a one life experience under the stars that you can´t skip! If you didn´t try it yet, you must include it as a priority on your bucket list. From observing the planets up to looking at the craters on the moon, everything is possible under an unpolluted sky with the guidance of a professional astronomer from Dark Sky® Alqueva. On moonless nights, you can dive deeper in the sky with your own eyes, embarking on a cosmic journey among nebulae, galaxies and the swarms of stars which rise above us in one of the finest skies in the world.
PT: O Observatório e Sede Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, localizado na Cumeada – uma pequena aldeia perto de Reguengos de Monsaraz – está equipado com telescópios de ponta para fins solares e astronómicos. Com um design totalmente novo, depois de ter sido reconstruído e expandido em 2019, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, proporcionando “a experiência de uma vida” sob um céu estrelado, algo que você não devia perder! Se ainda não tentou, inclua já esta experiência única como uma prioridade a realizar na sua “bucket list”. Desde observar os planetas até olhar as crateras na Lua, tudo é possível sob um céu não poluído, com a orientação de um astrónomo profissional do Dark Sky® Alqueva. Nas noites sem lua, você pode mergulhar mais fundo no céu com seus próprios olhos, embarcando em uma jornada cósmica entre nebulosas, galáxias e enxames de estrelas que se erguem acima de nós, num dos melhores céus do mundo.
Official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory in Cumeada Has a New Design in 2019
The official Dark Sky® Alqueva Observatory and headquarters, located in Cumeada – a small village near Reguengos de Monsaraz – is equipped with cutting-edge telescopes for solar and astronomical purposes. With a totally new design after being re-built and expanded in 2019, a roll-off roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, providing a one life experience under the stars that you can´t skip! If you didn´t try it yet, you must include it as a priority on your bucket list. From observing the planets up to looking at the craters on the moon, everything is possible under an unpolluted sky with the guidance of a professional astronomer from Dark Sky® Alqueva. On moonless nights, you can dive deeper in the sky with your own eyes, embarking on a cosmic journey among nebulae, galaxies and the swarms of stars which rise above us in one of the finest skies in the world.
PT: O Observatório e Sede Oficial Dark Sky® Alqueva, localizado na Cumeada – uma pequena aldeia perto de Reguengos de Monsaraz – está equipado com telescópios de ponta para fins solares e astronómicos. Com um design totalmente novo, depois de ter sido reconstruído e expandido em 2019, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, proporcionando “a experiência de uma vida” sob um céu estrelado, algo que você não devia perder! Se ainda não tentou, inclua já esta experiência única como uma prioridade a realizar na sua “bucket list”. Desde observar os planetas até olhar as crateras na Lua, tudo é possível sob um céu não poluído, com a orientação de um astrónomo profissional do Dark Sky® Alqueva. Nas noites sem lua, você pode mergulhar mais fundo no céu com seus próprios olhos, embarcando em uma jornada cósmica entre nebulosas, galáxias e enxames de estrelas que se erguem acima de nós, num dos melhores céus do mundo.
Cumeada Observatory, a Window to the Universe
After astronomical twilight ends, a retractable roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, with the core of Milky Way Galaxy shinning bright against a variety of different telescopes, advanced optical equipment for visual and astrophotography purposes, available in Cumeada Observatory, the headquarter of Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve – the First Starlight Tourism Destination in the World – located in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. The recovered building is an old primary school rehabilitated by the Municipality of Reguengos, to receive the official Observatory of Dark Sky® Alqueva
PT: Após o final do crepúsculo astronómico, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, com o núcleo da Via Láctea brilhando contra uma variedade de telescópios diferentes, equipamentos ópticos avançados para fins visuais e astrofotográficos, disponíveis no Observatório da Cumeada, sede oficial da Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva – o Primeiro Destino Turístico do Mundo Starlight – localizado em Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. O edifício recuperado é uma antiga escola primária reabilitada pelo município de Reguengos, para receber o Observatório oficial de Dark Sky® Alqueva.
Cumeada Observatory and the Winter Sky
After astronomical twilight ends, a retractable roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, with the Winter Sky shinning bright against a variety of different telescopes, advanced optical equipment for visual and astrophotography purposes, available in Cumeada Observatory, the headquarter of Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve – the First Starlight Tourism Destination in the World – located in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. The recovered building is an old primary school rehabilitated by the Municipality of Reguengos, to receive the official Observatory of Dark Sky® Alqueva
PT: Após o final do crepúsculo astronómico, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, com o Céu de Inverno brilhando contra uma variedade de telescópios diferentes, equipamentos ópticos avançados para fins visuais e astrofotográficos, disponíveis no Observatório da Cumeada, sede oficial da Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva – o Primeiro Destino Turístico do Mundo Starlight – localizado em Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. O edifício recuperado é uma antiga escola primária reabilitada pelo município de Reguengos, para receber o Observatório oficial de Dark Sky® Alqueva.
Oficial Observatory of Dark Sky Alqueva Working in a Winter Night from Miguel Claro on Vimeo.
Working at Cumeada Observatory, a Window to the Universe
After astronomical twilight ends, a retractable roof observatory shows an open window to the Universe, with the core of Milky Way Galaxy shinning bright against a variety of different telescopes, advanced optical equipment for visual and astrophotography purposes, available in Cumeada Observatory, the headquarter of Dark Sky® Alqueva Reserve – the First Starlight Tourism Destination in the World – located in Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. The recovered building is an old primary school rehabilitated by the Municipality of Reguengos, to receive the official Observatory of Dark Sky® Alqueva
PT: Após o final do crepúsculo astronómico, um observatório de tecto retráctil mostra uma janela aberta para o Universo, com o núcleo da Via Láctea brilhando contra uma variedade de telescópios diferentes, equipamentos ópticos avançados para fins visuais e astrofotográficos, disponíveis no Observatório da Cumeada, sede oficial da Reserva Dark Sky® Alqueva – o Primeiro Destino Turístico do Mundo Starlight – localizado em Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal. O edifício recuperado é uma antiga escola primária reabilitada pelo município de Reguengos, para receber o Observatório oficial de Dark Sky® Alqueva.
Communicating With the Interplanetary Space
The image above shows the light path of stars above the 70-meter antenna from Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex.
The Spanish complex of NASA MDSCC – Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex – is located 65 km west of Madrid, close to the town of Robledo de Chavela, and is part of the global network known as DSN, Deep Space Network, that has two other centers in Canberra, Australia and in Goldstone, California, USA. The geographical location of these, approximately 120 degrees apart in length, has been chosen to allow vehicles to maintain contact with a ground station, regardless of the daily movement of the Earth’s rotation. Each Deep Space Network site has one huge, 70-meter (230-foot) diameter antenna. The 70-meter antennas are the largest and most sensitive, capable of tracking a spacecraft traveling tens of billions of miles (kilometers) from Earth. NASA built the 70-meter antenna when ambitious missions began venturing beyond Earth orbit and needed more powerful communications tools to track them. The antenna was designed to receive weak signals and transmit very strong ones far out into space. The dish from Madrid 70-meter antenna, also known as “DSS-63”, was upgraded from 64 meters to 70 meters in 1987, to enable the antenna to track NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft as it encountered Neptune. The stations communicate with the space vehicles through radio waves, which are used to carry messages in both directions. The radio waves used for space communications belong to the region of the microwave whose frequency range is between 30 and 100,000 MHz, and its speed of propagation is the same to that of light, 300.000 km/s.
Received messages can contain television signals, data from measurements made by the scientific instruments on board the vehicle, such as temperature sensors, radiation, magnetic fields, etc… And information that allows us to know the functioning of the instruments that control navigation and engineering of the vehicle itself, such as computers, receivers, transmitters, antennas, power generation systems, etc. These messages use a binary language, and therefore they are series of ones and zeros, turned into electrical impulses, carried by radio waves. Some of the future missions that this gigantic antenna will be in charge to communicate, are: James Webb – Space Telescope; Solar Probe Plus (SPP) Heliophysics; inSight – Mission to Mars and INSPIRE – CubeSats satellites.
Enter the intricate world of NASA’s Deep Space Network as it provides you an inside look in real-time at how their team communicates and tracks multiple spacecraft within the solar system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Click Here
PT: A imagem acima mostra o rasto das estrelas acima da antena de 70 metros do Complexo de Comunicações do Espaço Profundo de Madrid.
Orion Shines above NASA Deep Space Network in Madrid
The image above shows the 70-meter antenna from Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex, that seems to point to the brightest star in the celestial sphere, Sirius, while above it, is shinning the colourful winter constellation of Orion.
The Spanish complex of NASA MDSCC – Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex – is located 65 km west of Madrid, close to the town of Robledo de Chavela, and is part of the global network known as DSN, Deep Space Network, that has two other centers in Canberra, Australia and in Goldstone, California, USA. The geographical location of these, approximately 120 degrees apart in length, has been chosen to allow vehicles to maintain contact with a ground station, regardless of the daily movement of the Earth’s rotation. Each Deep Space Network site has one huge, 70-meter (230-foot) diameter antenna. The 70-meter antennas are the largest and most sensitive, capable of tracking a spacecraft traveling tens of billions of miles (kilometers) from Earth. NASA built the 70-meter antenna when ambitious missions began venturing beyond Earth orbit and needed more powerful communications tools to track them. The antenna was designed to receive weak signals and transmit very strong ones far out into space. The dish from Madrid 70-meter antenna, also known as “DSS-63”, was upgraded from 64 meters to 70 meters in 1987, to enable the antenna to track NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft as it encountered Neptune. The stations communicate with the space vehicles through radio waves, which are used to carry messages in both directions. The radio waves used for space communications belong to the region of the microwave whose frequency range is between 30 and 100,000 MHz, and its speed of propagation is the same to that of light, 300.000 km/s.
Received messages can contain television signals, data from measurements made by the scientific instruments on board the vehicle, such as temperature sensors, radiation, magnetic fields, etc… And information that allows us to know the functioning of the instruments that control navigation and engineering of the vehicle itself, such as computers, receivers, transmitters, antennas, power generation systems, etc. These messages use a binary language, and therefore they are series of ones and zeros, turned into electrical impulses, carried by radio waves. Some of the future missions that this gigantic antenna will be in charge to communicate, are: James Webb – Space Telescope; Solar Probe Plus (SPP) Heliophysics; inSight – Mission to Mars and INSPIRE – CubeSats satellites.
Enter the intricate world of NASA’s Deep Space Network as it provides you an inside look in real-time at how their team communicates and tracks multiple spacecraft within the solar system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Click Here
PT: A imagem acima mostra a antena de 70 metros do Complexo de Comunicações do Espaço Profundo de Madrid, que parece apontar para a estrela mais brilhante da esfera celestial, Sirius. Logo acima desta, brilham as estrelas coloridas da constelação de inverno, Orion.
Canis Major and a 70-meter Antenna from NASA Deep Space Network
The image above shows the 70-meter antenna from Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex, that seems to point to the brightest star in the celestial sphere, Sirius. Also visible is the entire constellation of Canis Major.
The Spanish complex of NASA MDSCC – Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex – is located 65 km west of Madrid, close to the town of Robledo de Chavela, and is part of the global network known as DSN, Deep Space Network, that has two other centers in Canberra, Australia and in Goldstone, California, USA. The geographical location of these, approximately 120 degrees apart in length, has been chosen to allow vehicles to maintain contact with a ground station, regardless of the daily movement of the Earth’s rotation. Each Deep Space Network site has one huge, 70-meter (230-foot) diameter antenna. The 70-meter antennas are the largest and most sensitive, capable of tracking a spacecraft traveling tens of billions of miles (kilometers) from Earth. NASA built the 70-meter antenna when ambitious missions began venturing beyond Earth orbit and needed more powerful communications tools to track them. The antenna was designed to receive weak signals and transmit very strong ones far out into space. The dish from Madrid 70-meter antenna, also known as “DSS-63”, was upgraded from 64 meters to 70 meters in 1987, to enable the antenna to track NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft as it encountered Neptune. The stations communicate with the space vehicles through radio waves, which are used to carry messages in both directions. The radio waves used for space communications belong to the region of the microwave whose frequency range is between 30 and 100,000 MHz, and its speed of propagation is the same to that of light, 300.000 km/s.
Received messages can contain television signals, data from measurements made by the scientific instruments on board the vehicle, such as temperature sensors, radiation, magnetic fields, etc… And information that allows us to know the functioning of the instruments that control navigation and engineering of the vehicle itself, such as computers, receivers, transmitters, antennas, power generation systems, etc. These messages use a binary language, and therefore they are series of ones and zeros, turned into electrical impulses, carried by radio waves. Some of the future missions that this gigantic antenna will be in charge to communicate, are: James Webb – Space Telescope; Solar Probe Plus (SPP) Heliophysics; inSight – Mission to Mars and INSPIRE – CubeSats satellites.
Enter the intricate world of NASA’s Deep Space Network as it provides you an inside look in real-time at how their team communicates and tracks multiple spacecraft within the solar system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Click Here
PT: A imagem acima mostra a antena de 70 metros do Complexo de Comunicações do Espaço Profundo de Madrid, que parece apontar para a estrela mais brilhante da esfera celestial, Sirius. À direita desta, é também visível toda a constelação Canis Major.
Milky Way Crossing the Entire Sky of La Palma
PT: Nesta imagem “full dome” captada com uma lente “olho-peixe de 180º” é possível ver a Via Láctea atravessando o céu de La Palma, enquanto na parte superior se encontra visível o Laser Verde do William Herschel Telescope (WHT) projecto em direcção ao Zénite (centro da imagem). Na direcção oposta do céu, (região inferior) encontra-se o Isaac Newton Telescope (INT). Fotografia captada nas montanhas rochosas de Roque de Los Muchachos, em La Palma, nas Ilhas Canárias.
The Powerful Green Laser of William Herschel Telescope
Development of new instrumentation is crucial for the continued scientific health of any telescope facility. At the WHT a vibrant development programme was in place, focusing on providing the widest possible science use of adaptive optics, a technique that greatly improves image quality by correcting for the degradation due to turbulent motions in the Earth’s atmosphere. Adaptive optics is now well established at several telescopes around the world. The potential of adaptive optics is huge because the improved spatial resolution allows the detection of sources and fine structures in complex systems that would otherwise not be resolved. Examples are the study of dense stellar clusters, cores of relatively nearby galaxies, and complex star-formation regions.
The technique of adaptive optics, although of huge potential, has its limitations. The requirement that a bright point source lies very close to the object of interest implies that less than 1% of the sky is accessible for the technique. There is, however, a solution to this problem, which is to create an artificial “star” by projecting a bright laser beam on the sky. Such a laser beacon assumes the role of the bright star, hence opening virtually all of the sky to observation with adaptive optics. The current developments at the WHT focus on the design and construction of such a laser beacon system, which will result in a dramatic enhancement of the science prospects of the telescope. Interestingly, adaptive optics and laser beacons are crucial for the next generation of extremely large telescopes that are currently being planned. These future telescopes, with unprecedented large primary mirror diameters of 30 or even 100m, require many solutions to be found for a range of technological problems. Thanks to the ongoing developments in this area at the WHT this telescope is well placed to play a key role as a testbed facility where techniques for these future telescopes can be explored under realistic conditions.
Moonlight Iridium Flare above Isaac Newton Telescope
PT: Este curto startrail captado a partir do Roque de Los Muchachos, La Palma, Ilhas Canárias, mostra um Iridium Flare (Reflexo de um Satélite de comunicações da rede Iridium) brilhando acima da cúpula do telescópio de Isaac Newton (INT), visível acima da camada de nuvens que reflecte a luz proveniente do nascer da Lua acima do Oceano Atlântico.
The Transition between Day and Night
This lovely skyscape scene shows the end of nautical twilight above Roque de Los Muchachos observatory, and the transition between the end of the day and the beginning of the night. Each twilight phase is defined by the solar elevation angle, which is the position of the Sun in relation to the horizon. During nautical twilight, the geometric center of the Sun’s disk is between 6 and 12 degrees below the horizon. In clear weather conditions, the horizon is faintly visible during this twilight phase. Many of the brighter stars can also be seen, making it possible to use the position of the stars in relation to the horizon to navigate at sea. This is why it is called nautical twilight. Although, if we had to this ingredients the perfect position and time of the year to watch the central region of the Milky Way as soon as the sky stays dark, we can capture beyond the brightest stars the dusty core of the galaxy with very natural colours mixed yet with the background light coming from the transition of the Nautical Twilight to the Astronomical Twilight, when the Sun is even low then 12º below the horizon. In the foreground are spread different night and solar observatories from Roque de Los Mucahchos, one of them is William Herschel Telescope, that can be seen in the right edge of the image with the dome opened while it´s laser is pointed high up in the sky.
PT: Esta linda cena “skyscape” mostra o final do Crepúsculo Náutico acima do observatório Roque de Los Muchachos, e a transição entre o final do dia e o início da noite. Cada fase crepuscular é definida pelo ângulo de elevação solar, que é a posição do Sol em relação ao horizonte. Durante o Crepúsculo Náutico, o centro geométrico do disco do Sol está entre 6 e 12 graus abaixo do horizonte. Em condições climáticas claras, o horizonte é visível durante esta fase crepuscular. Muitas das estrelas mais brilhantes também podem ser vistas, tornando possível usar a posição das estrelas em relação ao horizonte para navegar no mar. É por isso que é chamado Crepúsculo Náutico. No entanto, se a estes ingredientes juntarmos a posição e época do ano perfeita para observar a região central da Via Láctea logo que o céu escureça, podemos captar além das estrelas mais brilhantes o núcleo empoeirado da galáxia com cores muito naturais, misturadas ainda com a luz de fundo proveniente da transição do Crepúsculo Náutico para o Crepúsculo Astronómico, quando o Sol está mais de 12º abaixo do horizonte. No primeiro plano, estão espalhados diferentes observatórios noturnos e solares do Roque de Los Mucahchos, um deles é o Telescópio William Herschel, que pode ser visto na extremidade direita da imagem com a cúpula aberta enquanto o laser é apontado para o alto do céu.
William Herschel Pointing to the Middle of Summer Triangle

In the foreground we can see from left to right, the tower of Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST), the largest solar telescope in Europe and number one in the world when it comes to high spatial resolution and the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope (JKT) with a parabolic primary mirror of 1.0 m diameter. At lower right is visible the powerful green laser from William Herschel Telescope (WHT) pointing high in sky and by coincidence, centred exactly in the middle of the well known asterism of “Summer Triangle”, formed by the stars Altair (from Aquila constellation), Vega (Lyra) and Deneb (Cygnus). Roque de Los Muchachos mountain, is located in La Palma, Canary islands. The laser guide star is in use at the WHT during a few nights per semester, so this was a rare opportunity to capture it.
PT: Em primeiro plano podemos ver da esquerda para a direita, a torre do Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST), o maior telescópio solar da Europa e o número um no mundo quando se trata de alta resolução espacial, seguido do telescópio Jacobus Kapteyn (JKT ) com um espelho primário parabólico de 1,0 m de diâmetro. Mais abaixo à direita é visível o poderoso laser verde do telescópio William Herschel (WHT) que apontando alto para o céu, por coincidência, está centrado exatamente no meio do conhecido asterismo “Triângulo de Verão”, formado pelas estrelas Altair (da constelação Aquila), Vega (Lyra) e Deneb (Cygnus). A montanha rochosa de Roque de Los Muchachos está localizado em La Palma, nas ilhas Canárias.
MAGIC – A Pair of Twins in the Moonlight
This moonlight scene shows the large structure of MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes), a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. MAGIC detects particle showers released by gamma rays, using the Cherenkov radiation, i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters and 236 m2 reflective surface, it was the largest in the world before the construction of H.E.S.S. II. MAGIC is not only huge, but also pioneers a number of technical developments that had never been applied to Cherenkov telescopes before. The mirror is extremely light and can be moved to any position in the sky in less than thirty seconds. It is made up of 270 individual mirror panels that can be independently focussed using an active mirror control system equipped with lasers.
The cosmos and its evolution are studied using all radiation, in particular electromagnetic waves. The observable spectrum extends from radio waves to infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-rays and finally very high energy gamma rays (starting at energies of 10 GeV). Observations at visible wavelengths (.5 to 1 micrometer) have a history of centuries, gamma astronomy by satellites (keV to few GeV) and ground-based telescopes (above 300 GeV) are end-of-20th century newcomers. The MAGIC telescope can detect very high energy gamma rays in a range of energies where no other telescope in the world can operate, so it opens up a brand new window into the universe.
PT: Esta cena ao luar mostra a grande estrutura de MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes), um sistema de dois telescópios gémeos, preparados para detectar explosões de Raios-Gama. Localizado no Observatório Roque de los Muchachos em La Palma, Ilhas Canárias, esta estrutura encontra-se a cerca de 2200m de altitude.
La Palma Twilight and the Dome of WHT
Adaptive Optics in William Herschel Telescope
Development of new instrumentation is crucial for the continued scientific health of any telescope facility. At the WHT a vibrant development programme was in place, focusing on providing the widest possible science use of adaptive optics, a technique that greatly improves image quality by correcting for the degradation due to turbulent motions in the Earth’s atmosphere. Adaptive optics is now well established at several telescopes around the world. The potential of adaptive optics is huge because the improved spatial resolution allows the detection of sources and fine structures in complex systems that would otherwise not be resolved. Examples are the study of dense stellar clusters, cores of relatively nearby galaxies, and complex star-formation regions.
The technique of adaptive optics, although of huge potential, has its limitations. The requirement that a bright point source lies very close to the object of interest implies that less than 1% of the sky is accessible for the technique. There is, however, a solution to this problem, which is to create an artificial “star” by projecting a bright laser beam on the sky. Such a laser beacon assumes the role of the bright star, hence opening virtually all of the sky to observation with adaptive optics. The current developments at the WHT focus on the design and construction of such a laser beacon system, which will result in a dramatic enhancement of the science prospects of the telescope. Interestingly, adaptive optics and laser beacons are crucial for the next generation of extremely large telescopes that are currently being planned. These future telescopes, with unprecedented large primary mirror diameters of 30 or even 100m, require many solutions to be found for a range of technological problems. Thanks to the ongoing developments in this area at the WHT this telescope is well placed to play a key role as a testbed facility where techniques for these future telescopes can be explored under realistic conditions.
A wide view from Roque de Los Muchachos
PT: Vista panorâmica da montanha de Roque de Los Muchachos, em La Palma, nas Ilhas Canárias, onde se encontra um dos maiores observatórios do mundo, um complexo de 15 telescópios de 19 nações que opera perto da costa da África, Oceano Atlântico. Da esquerda para a direita, podemos ver o laser verde do telescópio William Herschel (WHT), o braço da Via Láctea e abaixo dele, uma camada de nuvens iluminada pelo luar. Acima das nuvens, fica a cúpula cinza do Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) enquanto no primeiro plano (lado direito) encontra-se a cúpula do Telescópio Isaac Newton (INT). No extremo direito, é possível ver a lua a nascer acima do horizonte.
A Green Sword from William Herschel Telescope
A portrait view taken from Roque de Los Muchachos observatory, in La Palma Canary island, where we can see the powerful green laser from William Herschel Telescope (WHT) pointed to the Zenith. The CANARY laser guide star is in use at the WHT during a few nights per semester, so this is a rare opportunity to capture it in one entire year. During these nights, the risk of collisions with the pointing of other telescopes can be queried via a laser traffic control system. In the background of this “green sword”, a beautiful arch of gas and dust from our Galaxy, the Milky Way, is shinning against the sky.
PT: Neste retrato captado a partir do Observatório de Roque de Los Muchachos, em La Palma, nas Ilhas Canárias, é possível ver o poderoso laser verde do telescópio William Herschel (WHT) apontado ao Zénite. O CANARY laser guide, funciona como uma “estrela guia” para optimizar a utilização do sistema de óptica adaptativa do WHT durante algumas noites por semestre, assim, esta é uma rara oportunidade para captá-lo ao longo de um ano inteiro. Durante estas noites, o risco de colisões com o apontador por parte de outros telescópios pode ser evitado através da consulta de um sistema de controle de tráfego do laser. No fundo desta “espada verde”, um belo arco de gás e poeira da nossa Galáxia, a Via Láctea, brilha contra o céu de fundo.
Arched Milky Way above La Palma

A panoramic view with the mountain of Roque de Los Muchachos, in La Palma Canary island, where stands a huge complex with 15 telescopes, some of the largest telescopes in the world from 19 nations working near the coast of Africa, in Atlantic Ocean. At left edge, the Zodiacal Light touch the Milky Way that start its arched shape near the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) with the laser pointed to the Zenith, while in the opposite direction, the faintest part of Milky Way arm sets behind the open dome of Isaac Newton Telescope (INT).
PT: Vista panorâmica da montanha de Roque de Los Muchachos, em La Palma, nas Ilhas Canárias, onde se encontra um dos maiores observatórios do mundo, um complexo de 15 telescópios de 19 nações que opera perto da costa da África, Oceano Atlântico. Na extremidade esquerda, a subtileza da Luz Zodiacal toca a Via Láctea que começa a sua forma arqueada perto do Telescópio William Herschel (WHT) que tem o laser apontado em direcção ao Zénite, enquanto na direção oposta, é possível ver a outra extremidade do arco galáctico, representado pela parte mais ténue da Via Láctea que se vai ocultando atrás da cúpula do Telescópio Isaac Newton (INT), visível à direita.
The Arc of Milky Way in the Twilight with the Moon and Zodiacal Light above VLT
The entire Arc of Milky Way full of gas and dust can be seen in this panoramic lovely view from the southern sky, captured in the end of nautical twilight, above the Very Large Telescope platform. At left of the small tower, above the horizon, the bright object visible is not a star itself, but the great globular cluster Omega Centauri. Closer to left in the beginning of Milky Way arc, are spotted the bright stars of Alpha and Beta Centauri. In the middle of the image, the strong light of crescent moon is shining above the Antu telescope, the first one. Above the moon, we can see the planet Saturn, the orange star Antares from Scorpius constellation, and the dark streaks that are part of Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, which connects this region to the main arm of Milky Way with more then 200º from side to side. In the background of this same region, a faint white light is visible, called the Zodiacal Light. In the foreground at right, we can see the Yepun telescope, reflecting a silver color coming from the moon reflection on its metallic surface. In the extremely right edge of the image, the Andromeda galaxy is even visible as an elongated diffuse dot.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile
Reddish Airglow Bands on ALMA sky
In the background, we can see the arm of Milky Way full of gas and dust with the Zodiacal Light crossing the sky. In the upper left part of the image, is also visible a reddish airglow bands. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Twilight over the spread Antennas from ALMA Telescope
After the sunset starts the nautical twilight and the sky assumes a beautiful pallet of blueish and orange colors, giving space to appearing the first stars of the some constellations. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spread over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Daylight view from Cerro Paranal
A daylight view in the desert from Paranal summit, where stands the VLT platform. The Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Blue Sky above the Auxiliary Telescopes on VLT
Blue Sky above the Auxiliary Telescopes on VLT The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Blue Sky above the Auxiliary Telescopes on Paranal Platform
Blue Sky above the Auxiliary Telescopes on Paranal Platform The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Paranal Summit with VLT in Daylight
A daylight view in the desert from Paranal summit, where stands the VLT platform. The Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Earthshine above Antu VLT Telescope
Lunar Earthshine above Antu VLT Telescope, during the nautical twilight. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
The Nautical Twilight with the Moon in ALMA
After the sunset starts the nautical twilight and the sky assumes a beautiful pallet of blueish and orange colors, giving space to appearing the first stars of the some constellations. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe, and its right side the Moon. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spread over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
A Romantic Scene in a Lovely Sky
In this colorful lovely scene captured at the twilight, we can see two skywatchers enjoying his passion about the Universe, with a Crescent Moon shining between the clouds and above the Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of VLT.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
AllSky of VLT Yepun
In the background of this fish-eye fulldome picture, at the left side of Yepun VLT Telescope, we can see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, while in center right of the image, the Zodiacal Light is coming up above the Milky Way that is lying behind the horizon.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Cerro Paranal Shadow projected in Cerro Armazones
Above the horizon we can see Cerro Armazones mountain illuminated by the sunset reddish color that is reflected in the land and high clouds, also with the projected shadow of Cerro Paranal. With an altitude of 3060 meterss in the central part of Chiles Atacama Desert, some 130 kilometers south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20 kilometers from Cerro Paranal, home of ESOs Very Large Telescope. Cerro Armazones will be the baseline site for the planned 39-metre-class European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), with a planned construction period of about a decade. The telescope’s “eye” will be almost half the length of a soccer pitch in diameter and will gather 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today. The telescope has an innovative five-mirror design that includes advanced adaptive optics to correct for the turbulent atmosphere, giving exceptional image quality. The main mirror will be made up from almost 800 hexagonal segments.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Fulldome View of Reddish Airglow Bands and Milky Way on ALMA
In the background, we can see in this fish-eye fulldome view, the arm of Milky Way full of gas and dust with the Zodiacal Light crossing the sky. In the upper left part of the image, is also visible a reddish airglow bands. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spread over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Skygazing on Cerro Paranal Observatory
A guide from ESO is relaxing and enjoying the beautiful and impressive sky of Cerro Paranal while is waiting for a better condition in the weather forecast. In the Background, an unusual cloudy sky is hiding part of the Milky Way, while the moon shines behind the moving clouds, illuminating the closed dome of the Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Moon Corona in the Twilight of Very Large Telescope
After sunset a partial cloudy sky can promote the appearance of a beautiful show of colors, as well as some optical phenomenon, specially if we have a night of Moonlight that can show an effect called “Corona”, produced by the diffraction of light coming from the Moon by individual small water droplets and sometimes tiny ice crystals of a cloud. In the foreground, we can see three of four movable Auxiliary Telescopes available in the Very Large Telescope platform.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Eta Carinae above the Dome of Residencia
The incredibly dark and transparent sky of Paranal, in the Atacama Desert, Chile, is the perfect place to see the bright emission nebula Eta Carinae (almost in the center of the image). Below we also can see the violet-red color coming from the Running Chicken Nebula (IC2944) and below the dark band of clouds and above the horizon, is also visible the red-hued giant star Gacrux as well as the blue-hued giant star Mimosa, both from the Southern Cross constellation. The hazy atmosphere works as a natural diffuse filter, enhancing the saturation and revealing the real color temperature of each stars. More bluish they are, more hottest is their temperature. The orange-red stars, are coldest. The white dome is the Residencia for astronomers that are working on VLT Telescopes operated by ESO.
Image taken taken in 17/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Two Bright Magellanic Clouds above the Auxiliary Telescopes of VLT
In the foreground we can see three of four movable Auxiliary Telescopes of 1.8 meters available in the VLT platform, operating with the dome open. In the background and above the telescopes lies the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds showing its details and structure. Magellanic Clouds are two satellite galaxies from our own Milky Way.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
A Panoramic view to the top of Cerro Paranal
Panoramic view from VISTA telescope to the top of Cerro Paranal (at left) where it is located the VLT platform. In the right side we can see the Milky Way trying to show up behind a dark band of clouds, also covering the Moonset. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
Image taken taken in 17/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
AllSky view of the Milky Way Lying in the horizon of VLT
This fish-eye fulldome image shows the Milky Way lying parallel to the horizon in the background of the The Very Large Telescope (VLT) consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun (at right).
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Ghostly Shapes on the Starry Sky of VLT
After sunset a partial cloudy sky can promote the appearance of a beautiful show of colors, specially if we have a night of Moonlight that can illuminate and show a strange game of ghostly shapes in the clouds, combined with a starry sky as a background. In the foreground, we can see three of four movable Auxiliary Telescopes available in the Very Large Telescope platform.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Green airglow and Auxiliary Telescopes of VLT
In the foregroound we can see three of the four movable Auxiliary Telescopes of 1.8 meters available in the VLT plataform, operating with the dome open, while in the background of a starry sky we can observe a strong green airglow.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Gegenschein in a Fulldome view of Cerro Paranal
In the foreground, we can see the white Meteorological Tower of Paranal. The small dome contains a telescope dedicated to monitoring the atmospheric seeing conditions, known as a Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM.) In the sky at the upper left side of the this fish-eye (fulldome) picture, we can see the Gegenschein, that is a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point. like the zodiacal light, the gegenschein is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Most of this dust is orbiting the Sun in about the ecliptic plane. It is distinguished from zodiacal light by its high angle of reflection of the incident sunlight on the dust particles. In the upper right side, is also visible the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and above it, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Envolving the entire sky, we can see the presence of green airglow.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Alone with ALMA
In the background we can see the arm of Milky Way full of gas and dust with the Zodiacal Light crossing the sky. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Reddish Airglow in a Fulldome view of Very Large Telescope
In this fish-eye fulldome picture, we can see a partial cloudy sky, that can promote sometimes the appearance of a beautiful show. Specially, if we have a night of Moonlight that can illuminate and show a strange game of ghostly shapes in the clouds. In the background a starry sky with a shy Milky Way is showing a strong presence of reddish airglow in the opposite direction of the Very Large Telescope.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Cerro Armazones, the home for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT)
Above the horizon we can see Cerro Armazones mountain iluminated by the sunset redish color that is reflected in the land and high clouds . With an altitude of 3060 metres in the central part of Chiles Atacama Desert, some 130 kilometres south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20 kilometres from Cerro Paranal, home of ESOs Very Large Telescope. Cerro Armazone will be the baseline site for the planned 39-metre-class European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), with a planned construction period of about a decade. The telescope’s “eye” will be almost half the length of a soccer pitch in diameter and will gather 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today. The telescope has an innovative five-mirror design that includes advanced adaptive optics to correct for the turbulent atmosphere, giving exceptional image quality. The main mirror will be made up from almost 800 hexagonal segments.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Belt of Venus above the DIMM tower in Cerro Paranal
In the foreground, we can see the white Meteorological Tower of Paranal. The small dome contains a telescope dedicated to monitoring the atmospheric seeing conditions, known as a Differential Image Motion Monitor (DIMM.) In the background is strongly visible the Earth’s shadow, the shadow that the Earth itself casts on its atmosphere. This shadow is visible in the opposite half of the sky to the sunset or sunrise, and is seen right above the horizon as a dark blue band. Immediately above, a pink band that is visible above the dark blue of the Earth’s shadow is called “Belt of Venus”, and is caused by backscattering of refracted sunlight due to fine dust particles high in the atmosphere.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Atacama Desert View with Cerro Armazones
From left to right and above the horizon we can see in this panoramic view of Atacama desert, the Cerro Armazones mountain, illuminated by the sunset reddish color that is reflected in the land and high clouds, coming from the right edge of the image in the opposite direction, where it is located the Pacific Ocean. With an altitude of 3060 meters in the central part of Chiles Atacama Desert, some 130 kilometers south of the town of Antofagasta and about 20 kilometers from Cerro Paranal, home of ESOs Very Large Telescope. Cerro Armazones will be the baseline site for the planned 39-meter-class European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), with a planned construction period of about a decade. The telescope’s “eye” will be almost half the length of a soccer pitch in diameter and will gather 15 times more light than the largest optical telescopes operating today. The telescope has an innovative five-mirror design that includes advanced adaptive optics to correct for the turbulent atmosphere, giving exceptional image quality. The main mirror will be made up from almost 800 hexagonal segments.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Twilight and Sun Pillar in Cerro Paranal
After the sunset, in the beginning of twilight, a partial cloudy sky can promote an impressive combination of beautiful colors. Sometimes, we can see a phenomenon called Sun Pillar. A sun pillar is a vertical shaft of light extending upward from the sun. This great moment was captured in Cerro Paranal, where stands the VLT Telescope.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Stargazing in a Cloudy Sky – Fulldome View of VLT
In this fish-eye fulldome picture, we can see a girl stargazing in a partial cloudy sky, that can promote sometimes the appearance of a beautiful show. Specially, if we have a night of Moonlight that can illuminate and show a strange game of ghostly shapes in the clouds. In the background a starry shy sky is showing a strong presence of reddish airglow. In the foreground, we also can see three of four movable Auxiliary Telescopes availabe in the Very Large Telescope plataform.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Startrail of Yepun VLT Telescope
In the background, at the left side of Yepun VLT Telescope, we can see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds draged, while in center right of the image, the Zodiacal Light is coming up above the Milky Way that lies behind the horizon of this startrail sky.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
The Back of DV-21 ALMA Antenna with the Milky Way
In the background we can see the arm of Milky Way full of gas and dust with the Zodiacal Light crossing the sky. In the foreground, is also visible the back of (DV-21) antenna -12 meters in diameter – pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Gegenschein, Milky Way and Airglow in a Fulldome Show
In the upper right side of the sky in this fish-eye (fulldome) picture, we can see the Gegenschein, that is a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point. like the zodiacal light, the gegenschein is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Most of this dust is orbiting the Sun in about the ecliptic plane. It is distinguished from zodiacal light by its high angle of reflection of the incident sunlight on the dust particles. In the upper left side, is also visible the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and above it, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Surrounding the entire sky we can see the presence of green airglow, while, below, the Milky Way is setting in the horizon behind the VLT.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Iridium Flare above the Milky Way in Paranal
Milky Way lies parallel to the horizon in the background of the The Very Large Telescope (VLT) consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun (at right). In the left edge of the image and above the Milky Way, we can see what seems to be not a meteor but an Iridium Flare trail.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
VLT Residencia with Orion, Sirus, Canopus and Magellanic Clouds
In the left side of the sky we can see the Orion constellation with the orientation inverted for being seen from the Southern Hemisphere, close to the right, we can find the brightest star of the entire celestial sphere and Northen Hemisphere, Sirius. Moving further up, in the center of the image, is located the Canopus star, the brightest star of Southern Hemisphere. Next to it, is well spoted the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, a duo of irregular dwarf galaxies, which are members of the Local Group and are orbiting the Milky Way galaxy. In the ground, we can see the white dome of Residencia where astronomers from ESO that are working daily on VLT complex are hosted. In the background we also can see a tone of green and reddish faint light, coming from the airglow phenomenon.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 17/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Profile of Antenna DV-21 from ALMA in the Twilight
After the sunset starts the nautical twilight and the sky assumes a beautiful pallete of blueish and orange colors, giving space to appearing the first stars of the some constelalltions. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Stunning view of the Milky Way above ALMA along with the Moonset
In the background we can see the heart of our Galaxy full of gas and dust, star clusters and emission nebulae, as well as the orange star Antares from Scorpius constellation and the dark dust that connects this region to the main arm of Milky Way. Below at right, a faint white light called the Zodiacal Light is very well visible, coming up as a backlight behind the antenna of ALMA (DV-21) with12 meters in diameter, is capturing the wavelengths from vast cold clouds in the interstellar space. Above the horizon we also can see an orange glow coming from the moonset. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spread over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust. ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Fulldome View of Zodiacal Light and Milky Way on ALMA
In the background, we can see in this fish-eye fulldome view, the arm of Milky Way full of gas and dust with the Zodiacal Light crossing the sky. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Magellanic Clouds, Auxiliary Telescopes and the Milky Way
In the foregroound we can see the four movable Auxiliary Telescopes of 1.8 meters available in the VLT plataform, operating with the dome open, while in the background near the horizon is borning the Canopus star and above it, in the center of the picture, lies the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds showing its details and structure. Magellanic Clouds are two satellite galaxies from our own Milky Way. From down and along the upper right corner we can find the beautiful presence of Milky Way, our cosmic home.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Twilight Above the interferometer VLTI
Nautical twilight, above the Very Large Telescope platform. Near the horizon the bright moon is shining above the Antu telescope, the first one near the center. At his left, above the horizon are visible some of the Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. At the right side of Antu, is the telescope Kueyen, with a mirror of 8.2m diameter. Both, are opening and preparing for a night of observations. This telescopes are generally used separately, but can be used together to achieve a very high angular resolution. Looking from outside, they are reflecting a silver color coming from the moon reflection on its metalic surface. In the ground, at the left side of the image, we can see part of the interferometer (VLTI) complex, where the movable Auxiliary Telescopes can be placed.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Sun Pillar in Cerro Paranal
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Magellanic Clouds, Satellite Galaxies From Our Own Milky Way
In the foregroound we can see three of four movable Auxiliary Telescopes of 1.8 meters available in the VLT plataform, operating with the dome open, while in the background near the horizon is borning the Canopus star and above it, in the center of the picture, lies the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds showing its details and structure. Magellanic Clouds are two satellite galaxies from our own Milky Way.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Yepun Telescope and Magellanic Clouds
In the background, at the left side of Yepun VLT Telescope, we can see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, while in center right of the image, the Zodiacal Light is coming up above the Milky Way that is lying behind the horizon.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Panoramic View of the Milky Way above ALMA Plateau
In the background we can see the arc of Milky Way full of gas and dust with the Zodiacal Light crossing the sky, and at left, the both Magellanic Clouds. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust.
ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Fulldome View of Yepun Telescope and Magellanic Clouds
In the background of this fish-eye fulldome picture, at the left side of Yepun VLT Telescope, we can see the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, while in center right of the image, the Zodiacal Light is coming up above the Milky Way that is lying behind the horizon.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Milky Way Crossing the Sky of ALMA
Above the last antenna in the left center horizon, the bright object visible is not a star itself, but the great globular cluster Omega Centauri. Next to it, in the beginning of Milky Way arc, are spotted the bright stars of Alpha and Beta Centauri. Along his path we can enjoy the magnificent presence of our Galaxy full of gas and dust, star clusters and emission nebulae, as well as the orange star Antares from Scorpius constellation, and the dark streaks that are part of Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, which connects this region to the main arm of Milky Way. Below right, we find planet Saturn and a faint white light called the Zodiacal Light, coming up as a backlight behind the antenna of ALMA (DV-21) with12 meters in diameter, is capturing the wavelengths from vast cold clouds in the interstellar space. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spread over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-meter array has fifty antennas, 12 meters in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-meter and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimeter and submillimetre part of the spectrum.
ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust. ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Very Large Telescope Platform in the Twilight
Nautical twilight, above the Very Large Telescope platform. Near the horizon the bright moon is shining above the Antu telescope, the first one near the center. At his left, above the horizon are visible some of the Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. At the right side of Antu, the telescopes Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, with mirrors of 8.2m diameter, are opening and preparing for a night of observations. This telescopes are generally used separately, but can be used together to achieve a very high angular resolution. Looking from outside, they are reflecting a silver color coming from the moon reflection on its metalic surface. In the ground, at the left side of the image, we can see part of the interferometer (VLTI) complex, where the movable Auxiliary Telescopes can be placed.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred meters. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Stargazing with Passion – Twilight and Crescent Moon on VLT
In this colorful lovely scene captured at the twilight, we can see two skywatchers enjoying his passion about the Universe, with a Crescent Moon shining between the clouds and above the Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of VLT.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Milky Way Arm Crossing Antu, Kueyen and Melipal Telescopes
Milky Way arm of gas and dust lying behind the Very Large Telesope Antu, Kueyen e Melipal, while it is capturing the light coming from space. At the right edge of the image, we can see the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), that is the latest telescope to be added to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
A Moon Scar in the Sky of Paranal
Impressive sky of Cerro Paranal with an unusual cloudy sky hiding part of the Milky Way, while the moon is trying to shine behind the dark scar of moving clouds, illuminating the closed dome of the Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred meters. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
A Planet of Very Large Telescopes
After sunset a partial cloudy sky can promote the appearance of a beautiful show of colors, specially if we have a night of Moonlight that can illuminate and show a strange game of ghostly shapes in the clouds, combined with a starry sky as a background with the Milky Way. In the foreground, we can see in this fish-eye fulldome picture some of the Auxiliary Telescopes availabe in the VLT plataform and the Antu 8.2m diameter Large Telescope.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Twilight With a New Large Configuration of Antennas in ALMA
After the sunset starts the nautical twilight and the sky assumes a beautiful pallete of blueish and orange colors, giving space to appearing the first stars of the some constelalltions. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum.
ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust. ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Work in Progress in Very Large Telescope
In the upper left side of this fish-eye view, we can see the Gegenschein, that is a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point. In the center, the Yepun VLT Telescope is rotating with his astronomy work in progress, while the right side of the image shows the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds shining bright. A shy part of the Milky Way is also visible along with the right edge.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Stunning view of the Milky Way above Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)
In the background we can see the heart of our Galaxy full of gas and dust, star clusters and emission nebulae, as well as the orange star Antares from Scorpius constellation and the dark dust that conects this region to the main arm of Milky Way. Below, in the foreground of this same region, a faint white light called the Zodiacal Light is very well visible, coming up as a backlight behind the antenna of ALMA (DV-21) with12 meters in diameter, is capturing the wavelengths from vast cold clouds in the interstellar space. This are the first tests to experiment the largest configuration that ALMA can support, with antennas spreaded over distances up to 16 km. The array thus simulates a giant, single telescope much larger than any that could actually be built. In fact, ALMA has a maximum resolution which is even better than that achieved, at visible wavelengths, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation. ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum.
ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust. ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
A Close-up of ALMA Antenna DV-21 and the Crescent Moon with Earthshine
After the sunset starts the nautical twilight and the sky assumes a beautiful pallete of blueish and orange colors, giving space to appearing the first stars of the some constelalltions. In the foreground, is also visible one antenna (DV-21) of 12 meters in diameter, pointing to some place of the cold Universe and at his right side, the Crescent Moon with the strong Earthshine effect very well visible.
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is an astronomical interferometer of radio telescopes in the Atacama desert of northern Chile. Since a high and dry site is crucial to millimeter wavelength operations, the array has been constructed on the Chajnantor plateau at 5,000 meters altitude, near Llano de Chajnantor Observatory and Atacama Pathfinder Experiment. Consisting of 66 12-meter (39 ft), and 7-meter (23 ft) diameter radio telescopes observing at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, ALMA is expected to provide insight on star birth during the early universe and detailed imaging of local star and planet formation.
ALMA is a single telescope of revolutionary design, composed initially of 66 high-precision antennas, and operating at wavelengths of 0.32 to 3.6 mm. Its main 12-metre array has fifty antennas, 12 metres in diameter, acting together as a single telescope — an interferometer. An additional compact array of four 12-metre and twelve 7-metre antennas complements this. The 66 ALMA antennas can be arranged in different configurations, where the maximum distance between antennas can vary from 150 metres to 16 kilometres, which will give ALMA a powerful variable “zoom”. It will be able to probe the Universe at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution, with a vision up to ten times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope, and complementing images made with the VLT Interferometer. Light at these wavelengths comes from vast cold clouds in interstellar space, at temperatures only a few tens of degrees above absolute zero, and from some of the earliest and most distant galaxies in the Universe. Astronomers can use it to study the chemical and physical conditions in molecular clouds — the dense regions of gas and dust where new stars are being born. Often these regions of the Universe are dark and obscured in visible light, but they shine brightly in the millimetre and submillimetre part of the spectrum. ALMA is the most powerful telescope for observing the cool Universe — molecular gas and dust. ALMA will study the building blocks of stars, planetary systems, galaxies and life itself. By providing scientists with detailed images of stars and planets being born in gas clouds near our Solar System, and detecting distant galaxies forming at the edge of the observable Universe, which we see as they were roughly ten billion years ago, it lets astronomers address some of the deepest questions of our cosmic origins.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from Chajnantor plateau, Atacama desert, Chile.
Milky Way above the Moonset Between Antu and Kuyen Telescopes
In this close-up of the central region of the Milky Way full of gas and dust, star clusters and emission nebulae, lies as the perfect background for the both VLT telescopes Antu (UT1) and Kueyen (UT2 ). In Mapuche language, Antu means “The Sun” and Kueyen “The Moon”, two names that are matching perfectly with the sunny appearance of this bright moonset, reflected in the floor of the VLT platform.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal (UT3 – “The Southern Cross”) and Yepun (UT4 – Venus “as evening star”), which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
A startrail of Magellanic Clouds around the South Pole
In the left side of the sky we can see the trail of Sirius star. Moving to the right in the center of the image, is located the Canopus startrail, as well the draged motion of Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Below them, the rotational motion of Earth helped to find with precision the right position of the South Pole in the sky. In the ground, we can see the white dome of Residencia where astronomers from ESO working daily on VLT complex, are hosted.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 17/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Magellanic Clouds, Zodiacal Light and Gegenschein on a VLT Panorama
In the left side of this – almost 360º- panoramic view, we can see Canopus star and the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds. Above the horizon, in the beginning of Milky Way arc, are yet visible the bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri. At the center, lie down the galactic arm with the Zodiacal Light as a background of Antu telescope. Next to the last telescope is clearly visible the elongated diffuse light coming from Andromeda galaxy. In the upper part of the image and opposite direction of Magellanic Clouds, is shining a Gegenschein, that is a faint brightening of the night sky in the region of the antisolar point. Like the zodiacal light, the Gegenschein is sunlight scattered by interplanetary dust. Most of this dust is orbiting the Sun in about the ecliptic plane. It is distinguished from zodiacal light by its high angle of reflection of the incident sunlight on the dust particles. Below right and near the horizon, the Pleiades (M45) star cluster is visible next the tower silhouette.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 16/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Twlight on VLT and the Southern Crescent Moon
Twilight behind the Yepun VLT Telescope (at left) and Survey Telescope VST (at right) while they start opening his doors, preparing for a night of research. The faint and inverted crescent moon of the southern hemisphere, can be seen in the center of the image.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Milky Way Arc above the Yepun and VST Telescopes
Milky Way arc of gas and dust lying behind the Yepun (UT4) VLT Telescope, in the foreground, while it is capturing the light coming from deep space. Below left we can see the bright light of the moon and above it, the planet Saturn. At the right edge of the image, we can see the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), that is the latest telescope to be added to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Above the VST is shinning the bright star Vega, forming in the upper right area, the well known asterism as The Summer Triangle.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Sunset Between the VLT Telescopes
Sunset rays illuminating with an orange light the left face of Antu Telescope (the first one). In the foreground, at right, we can see the Melipal Telescope few minutes before start opening his doors to the Universe. The faint and inverted crescent moon of the southern hemisphere, can be seen at the left upper edge of the telescope, surrounded by the blue sky of twilight.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
The Great Milky Way above Antu, Kueyen and Melipal VLT Telescopes
In this close-up of the central region of the Milky Way full of gas and dust, star clusters and emission nebulae, lies as the perfect background to framing the right alignment (from left to right) between the VLT telescopes Antu (UT1), Kueyen (UT2) and Melipal (UT3). In Mapuche language, Antu means “The Sun”, Kueyen “The Moon” and Melipal “The Southern Cross”.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture. The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 15/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
A Startrail Fish-Eye View Above VLT Telescopes
A startrail fish-eye view of a draged Milky Way behind a cloudy sky, above the VLT Unit Telescopes in Cerro Paranal. At left, we also can see the light coming from the moonset. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
The 8.2m diameter Unit Telescopes can also be used individually. With one such telescope, images of celestial objects as faint as magnitude 30 can be obtained in a one-hour exposure. This corresponds to seeing objects that are four billion (four thousand million) times fainter than what can be seen with the unaided eye. The telescopes can work together, to form a giant ‘interferometer’, the ESO Very Large Telescope Interferometer, allowing astronomers to see details up to 25 times finer than with the individual telescopes. The light beams are combined in the VLTI using a complex system of mirrors in underground tunnels where the light paths must be kept equal to distances less than 1/1000 mm over a hundred metres. With this kind of precision the VLTI can reconstruct images with an angular resolution of milliarcseconds, equivalent to distinguishing the two headlights of a car at the distance of the Moon.
Image taken taken in 17/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
View to the top of Cerro Paranal
Panoramic view from VISTA telescope to the top of Cerro Paranal, where it is located the VLT. In the right side we can see the Milky Way behind a dark band of clouds. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is a telescope operated by the ESO – European Southern Observatory on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The VLT is the world’s most advanced optical instrument, consisting of four Unit Telescopes with main mirrors of 8.2m diameter, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high angular resolution. The four separate optical telescopes are known as Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, which are all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language, with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI), which is used to resolve small objects. The interferometer is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.
Image taken taken in 17/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Testing ALMA Band Receiver in Laboratory
This picture shows an electronic engineer while is photographing the components in one of the Band receivers cartridges built for the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), one of the most sensitive and expensive parts of the Antennas. Extremely weak signals from space are collected by the ALMA antennas and focussed onto the receivers, which transform the faint radiation into an electrical signal. Before its construction is even completed, the new ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescope has embarked on an upgrade that will help astronomers investigate the earliest galaxies and search for water in other planetary systems, designing and building of an additional set of receivers with state-of-the-art performance, which will enable the telescope to access a portion of the spectrum of light that it cannot currently study. ALMA observes the Universe in radio waves: light which is invisible to our eyes. The weak glow coming from space is collected by the ALMA antennas and focused onto the receivers that transform the feeble radiation into an electrical signal. ALMA has 10 receiver bands to cover a wide range of observing frequency. For more effective reception of different bands of frequency, dedicated receivers have been developed for each band. The new receivers will be able to detect electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between about 1.4 and 1.8 millimeters, one of the ranges of the spectrum to which Earth’s atmosphere is partially transparent, which allows the light to reach the ALMA antennas. These wavelengths correspond to radio frequencies between 163 and 211 Gigahertz. ALMA has reached a major milestone by extending its vision fully into the realm of the submillimetre, the wavelengths of cosmic light that hold intriguing information about the cold, dark, and distant Universe. Image taken in 14/10/2016 at the ALMA Operations Support Facility, close to San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile.
Image taken taken in 14/10/2015 from ALMA Operations Support Facility, Atacama desert, Chile.
VISTA Telescope Startrail
A startrail in a cloudy sky as seen above the VISTA telescope in Paranal. VISTA ― the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy ― is part of ESO’s Paranal Observatory. VISTA works at near-infrared wavelengths and is the world’s largest survey telescope. Its large mirror, wide field of view and very sensitive detectors are revealing a completely new view of the southern sky. The telescope is housed on the peak adjacent to the one hosting the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) and shares the same exceptional observing conditions. VISTA has a main mirror that is 4.1 meters across. In photographic terms it can be thought of as a 67 megapixel digital camera with a 13 000 mm f/3.25 mirror lens. At the heart of the telescope is a huge three-tonne camera with 16 state-of-the-art infrared-sensitive detectors.
Imagem taken in 17/10/2015 from Cerro Paranal, Atacama desert, Chile.
Milky Way and GTC in Twilight
Vertical vision of our great Milky Way above the GTC – Gran TeCan Canarias Telescope during the twilight in observatory Roque de Los Muchachos. Above the dome we can see the main stars of constellation Scorpius.
Vertical Milky Way above GTC Telescope
Vertical vision of our great Milky Way above the GTC – Gran TeCan Canarias Telescope in observatory Roque de Los Muchachos.
Clouds and Fog in Caldera de Taburiente
Captured in a height of 2,200 meters from the sea level we can see the clouds and Fog near the border of Caldera de Taburiente – a very large volcanic crater with about 10 km across. Above the horizon the sun sets behind the silhouette mountains of Roque de Los Muchachos, where stands a huge complex with the some of the largest telescopes in the world. The picture was taken in Pico de La Cruz, La Palma, Canary Island.
Canon 60Da – ISO250; 24mm at f/4; Exp. 1/250 secs. in 26/09/2013 at: 20h11
Gran Telescopio Canarias and FACT Telescope against Milky Way
From lower left to the right side of the picture, we can see the silver dome of Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) with a 10,4 meters primary mirror reflecting telescope. It is designed to incorporate the most up-to-date technology and it is one of the most advanced telescopes in the world, actually, the largest one until now in the optical-infrared system. At right center, in the foreground, we can see the silhouette of the First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope (FACT), that is the first imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope using Geiger-mode avalanche photodiods (G-APDs) as photo sensors. The rather small, low-cost telescope will not only serve as a test bench for this technology in Cherenkov astronomy, but also monitor bright active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the TeV energy range. The First G-APD Cherenkov Telescope is assembled in Roque de Los Muchachos on the MAGIC site, mounted in the focus of one of the former HEGRA telescopes (CT3). In the background, the beautiful light coming from the central region of Milky Way is shining against the telescope structure, reflecting on its mirror surface. Behind the GTC dome, the sky is shining as a smooth band of an orange airglow, normally from oxygen atoms at 150-300km high where the atmosphere is so sparse and collisions so infrequent that the atoms have time to radiate ‘forbidden’ light.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 22h57 AM
MAGIC Telescope against the Startrail
Above is the MAGIC against a startrail background where is also visible the Milky Way dragged, and clearly distinguishable the different colors of each star. | Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 23 images taken in 30/09/2013 at 22:44
In the foreground we can see the MAGIC I telescope (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes) in front of the Milky Way, with many of colorful stars mirrored in its surface of 236 m2. MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. MAGIC detects particle showers released by gamma rays, using the Cherenkov radiation, i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters and 236 m2 reflective surface, it was the largest in the world before the construction of H.E.S.S. II. MAGIC is not only huge, but also pioneers a number of technical developments that had never been applied to Cherenkov telescopes before. The mirror is extremely light and can be moved to any position in the sky in less than thirty seconds. It is made up of 270 individual mirror panels that can be independently focussed using an active mirror control system equipped with lasers.
The cosmos and its evolution are studied using all radiation, in particular electromagnetic waves. The observable spectrum extends from radio waves to infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-rays and finally very high energy gamma rays (starting at energies of 10 GeV). Observations at visible wavelengths (.5 to 1 micrometer) have a history of centuries, gamma astronomy by satellites (keV to few GeV) and ground-based telescopes (above 300 GeV) are end-of-20th century newcomers. The MAGIC telescope can detect very high energy gamma rays in a range of energies where no other telescope in the world can operate, so it opens up a brand new window into the universe.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/4; Exp. 1/80 secs. in 30/09/2013 at: 22h43 AM
Startrails with Galileu and Grantecan
In this colorful startrail, captured near the mountain top of the Roque de los Muchachos on the Canary island of La Palma, from left to right, we can see the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), that is a 3.6m alt-azimuth telescope with a Ritchey-Chretien optical configuration and a flat tertiary mirror feeding two opposite Nasmyth foci and represents the largest Italian optical/infrared telescope. On the right edge of the picture – in the foreground – stands the Gran Telescope Canarias (GTC) with a 10,4 meters primary mirror reflecting telescope was designed to incorporate the most up-to-date technology and it is one of the most advanced telescopes in the world, actually, the largest one until now in the optical-infrared system.
| Canon 50D – ISO2000; 35mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 37 images taken in 01/10/2013 between 00:32 and 00:42.
The MAGIC Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope full of Stars
In the foreground we can see the great MAGIC I telescope (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes) with it´s gigantic structure in front of a colorful startrail background, also mirrored on its impressive brilliant surface of 236 m2.
MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. MAGIC detects particle showers released by gamma rays, using the Cherenkov radiation, i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters and 236 m2 reflective surface, it was the largest in the world before the construction of H.E.S.S. II. MAGIC is not only huge, but also pioneers a number of technical developments that had never been applied to Cherenkov telescopes before. The mirror is extremely light and can be moved to any position in the sky in less than thirty seconds. It is made up of 270 individual mirror panels that can be independently focussed using an active mirror control system equipped with lasers.
The cosmos and its evolution are studied using all radiation, in particular electromagnetic waves. The observable spectrum extends from radio waves to infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-rays and finally very high energy gamma rays (starting at energies of 10 GeV). Observations at visible wavelengths (.5 to 1 micrometer) have a history of centuries, gamma astronomy by satellites (keV to few GeV) and ground-based telescopes (above 300 GeV) are end-of-20th century newcomers. The MAGIC telescope can detect very high energy gamma rays in a range of energies where no other telescope in the world can operate, so it opens up a brand new window into the universe.
Below we can see a time lapse with the MAGIC in motion and a sky full of stars reflected in its impressive mirrored surface.
Below we can see the MAGIC with a sky full of “steady” stars (without trail), and lighted by the Milky Way presence in the background.

Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 53 images taken in 01/10/2013 at 00:22.
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A dreaming view from Heavens
A panoramic view from Roque de Los Muchachos on the Canary island of La Palma, where stands a huge complex with 15 telescopes, some of the largest telescopes in the world – many of them visible in the background – from 19 nations, that are using the best night sky in Europe to explore the cosmos.
In the foreground – both edges of the image – stands the MAGIC telescope I and II (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes). MAGIC-II is located at a distance of 85 m from the first MAGIC telescope (at right). The stereo operation of both telescopes has increased the sensitivity of the observatory by a factor of ~3. MAGIC-II (at left) is a copy of the original MAGIC-I but it has a more homogeneous camera with more pixels, and a refurbished readout. In 2012, in a major upgrading operation mostly concerning MAGIC-I, the two telescopes were made technically identical. MAGIC is not only huge (it was the largest telescope mirror in the world, with 17 meters in diameter, before the construction of H.E.S.S.) but also pioneers a number of technical developments that had never been applied to Cherenkov telescopes before. The mirror is extremely light and can be moved to any position in the sky in less than thirty seconds. It is made up of 270 individual mirror panels that can be independently focussed using an active mirror control system equipped with lasers.
Between the both giant Cherenkov Telescopes, stands the mountain top of the Roque de los Muchachos, where is placed from right to left, telescopes like Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), with a 10,4 meters primary mirror reflecting telescope (first silhouette), Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), that is a 3.6m alt-azimuth telescope with a Ritchey-Chretien optical configuration, Nordic Optical Telescope (NOT) a modern 2.6-m optical/IR telescope, Dutch Open Telescope (DOT) an innovative optical telescope with a primary mirror of 45 cm diameter, for high-resolution imaging of the solar atmosphere, Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) is the largest solar telescope in Europe and number one in the world when it comes to high spatial resolution, and finally the great William Herschel Telescope (WHT), the largest optical telescope of its kind in Europe, with a primary mirror of 4.2 meters in diameter, is one of the most scientifically productive telescopes in the world.
Between the William Herschel Telescope and the MAGIC (at left) the sky shows the Pleiades star cluster M45, and a bit above, semi hidden behind the antenna we can find the deep sky object California nebula NGC1499. From left to right edge, the sky shows the presence of a strong green airglow of oxygen atoms (90-100 km high), and shining in the center image as an orange bands – normally from oxygen atoms at 150-300km high where the atmosphere is so sparse and collisions so infrequent that the atoms have time to radiate ‘forbidden’ light. Finally, against the MAGIC I (in the right corner of the picture), lies our own Galaxy, the Milky Way.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Mosaic of 19 images taken in 01/10/2013 at 00:04
The MAGIC Gamma-ray Cherenkov Telescope and Milky Way
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. in 01/10/2013 at: 01h29 AM
In the foreground we can see the great MAGIC I telescope (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov Telescopes) with it´s gigantic structure in front of a starry background, also mirrored on its impressive brilliant surface of 236 m2.
MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes situated at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, at about 2200 m above sea level. MAGIC detects particle showers released by gamma rays, using the Cherenkov radiation, i.e., faint light radiated by the charged particles in the showers. With a diameter of 17 meters and 236 m2 reflective surface, it was the largest in the world before the construction of H.E.S.S. II. MAGIC is not only huge, but also pioneers a number of technical developments that had never been applied to Cherenkov telescopes before. The mirror is extremely light and can be moved to any position in the sky in less than thirty seconds. It is made up of 270 individual mirror panels that can be independently focussed using an active mirror control system equipped with lasers.
The cosmos and its evolution are studied using all radiation, in particular electromagnetic waves. The observable spectrum extends from radio waves to infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-rays and finally very high energy gamma rays (starting at energies of 10 GeV). Observations at visible wavelengths (.5 to 1 micrometer) have a history of centuries, gamma astronomy by satellites (keV to few GeV) and ground-based telescopes (above 300 GeV) are end-of-20th century newcomers. The MAGIC telescope can detect very high energy gamma rays in a range of energies where no other telescope in the world can operate, so it opens up a brand new window into the universe.
| Canon 60Da – ISO2500; 24mm at f/2; Exp. 15 secs. Sum of 53 images taken in 01/10/2013 at 00:22.