Deep in the heart of the Atacama Desert, home of the Paranal Observatory, the Sun is setting at the start of another clear night. This charming photograph, taken by ESO Photo Ambassador Gianluca Lombardi shows one of four Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) that belong to ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) sitting boldly against a vivid sky of pink and blue. The full Moon, seen hovering over the horizon, has a distinctly reddish hue, a phenomenon caused by the scattering of light by Earth's atmosphere.
Chile's Atacama desert, the world's driest, is home to some of the world's biggest telescopes. Because of the incredibly clear skies over the area, conditions are perfect for observing the heavens and there are plans under way for even more powerful resources for astronomers. Read more
Stunning images of distant stars and galaxies have been captured by a powerful new British telescope. Vista (Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy), based at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, is the world's largest telescope dedicating to mapping the sky in infrared light. Astronomers expect it to reveal a completely new view of the southern sky. Read more
'Quantum of Solace' locations are as thrilling as the action As the new Bond film bursts onto a cinema screen near you, it introduces a whole new generation to the landscapes of Latin America. The films villain, Dominic Greene, has his hideout at an eco-hotel in the mountains of Bolivia. The "hotel" is actually the space-age workers quarters at the Paranal Observatory, high in the Atacama Desert, Chile.