SLODAR instrument at Paranal

This small telescope feeds an instrument that monitors the vertical profile of the atmospheric turbulence, using the so-called “Slope Detection and Ranging (SLODAR)” technique. The instrument, developed by Durham University and ESO, was deployed at ESO’s Paranal Observatory for a statistical characterisation of the site in March 2011. In the background, on the right, the enclosure of the 8.2-metre Yepun telescope is partially visible. The long exposure shows the apparent motion of the sky around the celestial south pole, seen on the upper left of the Yepun Telescope. Above the south pole, the two fuzzy spots are, from left to right, the Large and the Small Magellanic Cloud, neighbouring galaxies of the Milky Way.