This is the ESOcast!
Cutting-edge science and life behind the scenes at ESO,
the European Southern Observatory.
ESO’s facilities in Chile are very photogenic. But almost all pictures
and videos of them have been taken from the ground.
This time, however, we have spectacular aerial views,
which offer a surprising new perspective.
The Very Large Telescope at Paranal is a true jewel on the mountaintop.
Located some 12 kilometres inland from the Pacific coast
of nothern Chile, it’s an astronomer’s nirvana.
Lasers shoot skywards to make artificial stars —
to help astronomers to create even sharper images.
Not far away from Paranal, Cerro Armazones
will be the home of the European Extremely Large Telescope.
The summit has a platform large enough
to house the giant 39-metre telescope.
La Silla was ESO’s first observatory in Chile.
It operates two of the most productive
4-metre-class telescopes in the world.
The tried-and-tested infrastructure of La Silla
is also used by ESO Member States to run projects at their own facilities.
You are now about to reach, quite literally, breathtaking heights.
The spectacular Chajnantor plateau, at an altitude of 5000 metres,
is “nature’s gift” to astronomers searching for thin, dry air.
Here, ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
can achieve its full observational potential.
ALMA is the largest ground-based astronomical project in existence.
As night falls, the beautiful Chilean night sky
becomes the star of the show.
And astronomers can observe the heavens,
hoping to unravel some of the secrets of the Universe...
Transcription by ESO; translation by —