From the stairs to the stars! 🪜✨ Other than going to #space, the next best way to feel close to the stars is from the dark skies high up in #Chile’s Atacama Desert, where our Very Large Telescope(*) is located.

Those yellow beams are the VLT’s laser guide stars, shooting up from the telescope (to the right, but outside of the frame) into the sky. The laser beams create artificial stars high up in the atmosphere, which the telescope’s adaptive optics system uses to make the sharpest possible observations of the cosmos, from the ground.

Read more: https://www.eso.org/public/images/potw2509a/

(*) The VLT actually comprises several telescopes. And yes, you can tease us about the name 😅

📷 F. Millour/ESO

#astrodon #astronomy #astrophotography #science