Arriving at La Silla

The first view of ESO's La Silla Observatory when arriving in a car. La Silla, in the southern part of the Atacama desert, 600 km north of Santiago de Chile, was ESO's first observation site. The site is 2400 metres above sea level, providing excellent observing conditions. ESO operates the ESO 3.6-metre telescope and the 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla. This site also hosts many national telescopes, including the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope and the Danish 1.54-metre telescope.