Stargazing in the desert

Education & Public Outreach Department staff Mathieu Isidro enjoying the twilight and first stars of the night in Chile's Atacama desert near Paranal. The photo is by famous photographer Max Alexander, who came to portray the daily life at ESO's Paranal Observatory in the framework of the Organisation's 50th anniversary. It was taken after sunset while the team had stopped in a Martian-like landscape. The star-shaped rock is what prompted him to snap this moment, with Mathieu looking West towards the Paranal Observatory in the distance.