Among the telescopes

The VLT in operation at Paranal. The VLT comprises four Unit Telescopes and four Auxiliary Telescopes. All the unit telescopes have meaningful names corresponding to astronomical objects in the Mapuche language. Here we can see UT1, Antu, (left foreground), UT4, Yepun, (left background) and two of the Auxiliary Telescopes on the right. Each of the unit telescopes has a mirror 8.2 metres in diameter and, when used together, the four telescopes have the mirror area of a 16-metre telescope, effectively making the VLT the largest optical telescope in the world. The Auxiliary Telescopes can be moved to different locations around the VLT and are dedicated to interferometry, which can sharpen the vision of the telescope.