ESO VLT: Deep in the Chilean Atacama Desert

Snow rarely falls in the Chilean Atacama Desert, where ESO's Very Large Telescope sits atop Cerro Paranal, a 8500-foot-high (2600-meter-high) mountain. 

The Atacama Desert is a very dry place with humidity often dropping below 10 percent and rainfall of less than 0.4 inches (10 millimeters) per year. 

This picture, taken shortly before sunrise, shows the landscape of the Atacama and the mountaintop domes of the VLT, and also the night sky. 

To the left of the VLT is a satellite trail, and to the right a meteor streaks through the sky. [View all images]

ESO - Infrared VISTA view of a stellar nursery in Monoceros (Unicorn)

This dramatic infrared image shows the nearby star formation region Monoceros R2, located some 2700 light-years away in the constellation of Monoceros (the Unicorn).

The picture was created from exposures in the near infrared bands Y, J and Ks taken by the VISTA survey telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory.

Monoceros R2 is an association of massive hot young stars illuminating a beautiful collection of reflection nebulae, embedded in a large molecular cloud.

Credit: ESO/J. Emerson/VISTA. Acknowledgment: Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit

NASA Orion Nebula

The Orion Nebula, a stellar formation area located 1,350 million light years away, is captured by the Vista telescope, the biggest in the world, at Paranal hill, Chile

Picture: EPA / ESO