Aerial view of La Silla

Aerial photograph of ESO's La Silla Observatory. La Silla, in the southern part of the Atacama desert, 600 km north of Santiago de Chile, was ESO's first observation site. The telescopes are 2400 metres above sea level, providing excellent observing conditions. ESO operates the ESO 3.6-metre telescope and the 3.58-metre New Technology Telescope (NTT) at La Silla. This site also hosts many national telescopes, including the Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope and the Danish 1.54-metre telescope.

This photograph was taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Alexandre Santerne.