Sunrise at Paranal

Panoramic view of the desert around Paranal Observatory, taken towards the southwest during the early morning. While the 2600-metre-high Cerro Paranal is already lit by the rising Sun, on the right horizon, the coast of the Pacific Ocean — only 12 km away and typically covered by clouds — is still in the shade. On the flattened top of Cerro Paranal is the Very Large Telescope (VLT), composed of four 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes (UTs), plus four 1.8-metre Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs). In this image, only two of the UT enclosures, together with the smaller enclosure of the 2.6-metre VLT Survey Telescope (VST), are visible. The photograph was taken from a neighbouring peak, home of the 4.1-metre VISTA survey telescope.