The VLT Array on the Paranal Mountain

A view of the Paranal platform with the four 8.2-m VLT Unit Telescopes (UTs) and the foundations for the 1.8-m VLT Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) that are used as the VLT Interferometer (VLTI). The three ATs move on rails (they were not installed yet) between the thirty observing stations above the holes that provide access to the underlying tunnel system. The light beams from the individual telescopes are guided towards the centrally located, partly underground Interferometry Laboratory in which the VLTI instruments will be. This photo was obtained in December 1999 at which time some construction materials were still present on the platform; they were electronically removed in this reproduction.