- ESO for the Public
-
- About ESO
- Images
- View All
- Top 100
- Solar System
- Stars
- Star Clusters
- Exoplanets
- Nebulae
- Galaxies
- Galaxy Clusters
- Quasars and Black Holes
- Cosmology
- La Silla
- Paranal
- APEX
- ALMA
- E-ELT
- Survey Telescopes
- Premises
- Chile
- Illustrations
- People and Events
- Wallpapers
- Zoomable
- Advanced Search
- Picture of the Week
- Image Comparisons
- Usage of ESO Images and Videos
- Videos
- Solar System
- Stars
- Star Clusters
- Exoplanets
- Nebulae
- Galaxies
- Galaxy Clusters
- Quasars and Black Holes
- Cosmology
- La Silla
- Paranal
- APEX
- ALMA
- E-ELT
- About ESO
- Events
- ESOcast
- Video News Releases
- Compilations
- Feature Movies
- Premises
- About ESOcast
- Video Formats
- Subtitles and translations for ESO videos
- Usage of ESO Videos and Images
- News
- ESOshop
- Telescopes and Instrumentation
- Very Large Telescope
- La Silla
- Swedish–ESO Submillimetre Telescope
- New Technology Telescope
- ESO 3.6-metre telescope
- MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope
- Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope
- Rapid Eye Mount telescope
- TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope
- Danish 1.54-metre telescope
- Télescope à Action Rapide pour les Objets Transitoires
- ESO 1-metre Schmidt telescope
- ESO 1.52-metre telescope
- ESO 1-metre telescope
- ESO 0.5-metre telescope
- Coudé Auxiliary Telescope
- MarLy 1-metre telescope
- Dutch 0.9-metre telescope
- Swiss T70 telescope
- Bochum 0.61-metre telescope
- Danish 0.5-metre telescope
- Grand Prisme Objectif telescope
- Swiss 0.4-metre telescope
- Marseille 0.36-metre telescope
- GRB Monitoring System
- APEX
- Survey Telescopes
- ALMA
- E-ELT
- Technology for Telescopes
- Science with ESO Telescopes
- Events, Exhibitions & Campaigns
- Outreach
- Products
- Annual Reports
- Apparel
- Apps
- Books
- Brochures
- Bulletins
- Calendars
- CAPjournal
- DVDs/Bluray/CDs
- Educational Material
- Electronic Cards
- Exhibition Panels
- Flyers
- Handouts
- IMAX Films
- Logos
- Maps
- Merchandise
- Messenger
- Mini-sites
- Mounted Images
- Paper Models
- Planetarium Shows
- Postcards
- Posters
- Presentations
- Press Kits
- Reports
- Science in School
- Stationery
- Stickers
- Virtual Tours
- Order in ESOshop
- Doing Business with ESO
- Working at ESO
- ESO in your Language
- Austria (Deutsch)
- Belgium (Nederlands/Français/Deutsch)
- Brazil (Português)
- Czech Republic (Čeština)
- Denmark (Dansk)
- Finland (Suomi)
- France (Français)
- Germany (Deutsch)
- Italy (Italiano)
- Netherlands (Nederlands)
- Portugal (Português)
- Spain (Español)
- Sweden (Svenska)
- Switzerland (Deutsch/Français/Italiano)
- United Kingdom (English)
- Chile (Español)
- Albania (Shqip)
- Hungary (Magyar)
- Iceland (Íslenska)
- Ireland (English)
- Latvia (Latviešu valoda)
- Norway (Norsk)
- Poland (Polski)
- Romania (limba română)
- Russia (Русский)
- Turkey (Türkçe)
- Ukraine (Українська)
- United States (English)
ESOshop: Mounted image 204: The VLT´s Laser Guide Star
A laser beam launched from VLT´s 8.2-metre Yepun telescope crosses the majestic southern sky and creates an artificial star at 90 km altitude in the high Earth´s mesosphere. The Laser Guide Star (LGS) is part of the VLT´s Adaptive Optics system and it is used as reference to correct images from the blurring effect of the atmosphere. The picture field is crossed by an impressive Milky Way, our own galaxy seen perfectly edge-on. The most prominent objects on the Milky Way are: Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, visible at the top and the Carina nebula, seen as a bright patch besides the telescope. From the right edge of the picture to the left, the following objects are aligned: the Small Magellanic Cloud (with the globular cluster 47 Tucanae on its right), the Large Magellanic Cloud and Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky.
Credit:
ESO