Testament to the constant technological improvements being made at Paranal, UT4 – the workhorse of the observatory – has a state-of-the-art adaptive optics system. As the telescope rotates, the actuators adjust the mirror to help ensure clearer observation results.

Each of the mirrors in the UT telescopes has active optics, a system of some 150 actuators which are both across the whole plate of the mirror and surrounding its edge. Given that the mirror flexes as the telescope moves, following the star as it rotates in the sky, an ingenious system has been devised to make regular corrections to the position of the mirror as it bends and moves.

In fact, nearly every aspect of astronomical observation at the VLT is handled by a computer: the observations themselves, and regular maintenance of the telescopes, but also to optimise the scheduling of the selected observations to ensure that the telescopes work as much as possible, the observations themselves, and regular maintenance. Every single night, some 20 Gigabytes of data are captured and downloaded by the telescope's optics – it would take many lifetimes to assess and analyse that much data. The 10 telescopes which comprise the VLT array have little need for human eyes. the Large Hadron Collider), while the oft-publicised images of the VLT's technical machinery may be visually compelling, they tell too little of the story of the equally fascinating engineering technology which allows the telescopes to observe star and sky. As is often the case with Big Science projects (e.g. A swimming pool in the desert is certainly an unexpected sight, but you immediately notice the change in the physical environment – the humidity makes it easier to breathe properly, eyes feel less sore, noses not so dry.įor one thing, the romanticised image of an eighteenth or nineteenth-century would-be astronomer, setting up a telescope in the dark and spending long nights recording observations, is long since out of date. While one side of the lobby resembles any smart city hotel, with its receptionist and luxe furnishings, the other is completely taken up with a sub-tropical garden and swimming pool. First and foremost, the Residencia was conceived as an antidote to the physiological side effects of working in the desert. After only a few hours outside, or working in the control rooms, you feel like you've been stuck on a long-haul flight – dry eyes, throat and nose. While dryness is beneficial for star-gazing, it's less optimal for human habitation. Designed by the German firm, Auer+Weber, ESO again gained unexpectedly eye-catching aesthetic results from predominately functional concerns. The unintentional myth-making surrounding the VLT and its remote site only intensified in 2002 when the on-site astronomers moved out of their tin-shed bunkhouses into a beautiful new residence.

Very big telescope