Star trails over La Silla

A long exposure has captured the setting stars in a moonlit night in form of colourful star trails above La Silla telescope domes and inversion layer in the southern outskirts of the Atacama desert, Chile. The trails are notabely distorted at the horizon as seen in this telephoto view. This mirage is similar to other common mirage of astronomical object such as the moon or the sun when they are near the horizon; an optical phenomenon in which light rays are refracted and bent in the atmosphere to produce distorted or multiple images of the object. The European Southern Observatory's (ESO) site at La Silla has telescopes which observe at optical and infrared. The largest optical telescope has a mirror with a diameter of 3.6 metres. The high altitude of La Silla (2400 metres), the dark sky, and the clear air above it (reducing atmospheric distortions of incoming light), make the site an ideal location for astronomical observations.

Credit:

ESO/B. Tafreshi (twanight.org)

About the Image

Id:lasillastartrail-cc
Type:Photographic
Release date:8 December 2015, 11:59
Size:6144 x 3456 px

About the Object

Name:La Silla
Type:Unspecified : Technology : Observatory
Category:La Silla

Image Formats

Large JPEG
2.8 MB
Screensize JPEG
154.4 KB

Zoomable


Wallpapers

1024x768
234.3 KB
1280x1024
345.0 KB
1600x1200
467.1 KB
1920x1200
545.7 KB
2048x1536
679.0 KB