The Very Large Telescope on Cerro Paranal

This 360-degree panorama displays the starry sky of Chile and the Milky Way above Cerro Paranal observatory; one of the world’s best sites for astronomical observations and the location for the Very Large Telescope array. The four 8-meter diameter telescopes of the VLT are exploring the cosmos. The small Magellanic cloud is visible at the lower left. And the elongated vertical glow at the right side, above the eastern horizon in this early morning view, is the zodiacal light, caused by sunlight reflection from the dust in the Solar System plane. The bright object at the lower end of the zodiacal light is planet Venus.