VLT

As a follow up to the random letters post..........

Do you know what the letters VLT might stand for ??

Very Large Telescope !!!!

These things usually have names like Hale or Hubble, but obviously the Very Large Telescope is exactly what it is :~))  It's smaller brother is probably the South African Large Telescope (SALT) in Sutherland, South Africa !

The VLT consists of four individual telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2m across, which are generally used separately but can be used together to achieve very high spatial 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. The telescopes form an array which is complemented by four movable Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of 1.8 m aperture.

The Paranal Observatory is located on the top of Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert in the northern part of Chile (map) and what is believed to be the driest area on Earth.

Cerro Paranal is a 2,635-m high mountain, about 120 km south of the town of Antofagasta and 12 km inland from the Pacific Coast.

The Paranal mountain was chosen because of its excellent atmospheric conditions and its remoteness. This ensure's that the front-line astronomical observations to be carried out there will not be disturbed by adverse human activities, e.g. dust and light from roads and mines.

 This is the type of picture it can take : The Crab Nebula of Taurus

Because of the hostile environment and the altitude of the telescope it's an unsuitable place for the scientists to live and work in. They have build The Paranal Basecamp Resedentcia, at a lower altitude  (VLT seen at the top of Cerro Paranal on the left)

It's a wonderful construction with an almost tropical interior :~))

The area surrounding the Very Large Telescope has also been featured in a blockbuster movie. The VLT Hotel, the Residencia, is an award-winning building, and served as a backdrop for part of the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace