This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way,
This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way, or to imply the endorsement by ESO of any product, service or activity Artificial laser stars at the VLT over Paranal. Laser beams rising into the night sky from a unit of the European Southern Observatory's VLT (Very Large Telescope), Cerro Paranal, Chile. By focusing on the artificial guide stars in the form of the laser beams, VLT telescopes are calibrated to remove the effects of the atmosphere on observations, a process known as adaptive optics. This is Unit Telescope 4, with the lasers produced by the VLT's 4 Laser Guide Star Facility, which was switched on in April 2016. These are the most powerful laser guide stars ever used for astronomy and mark the first use of multiple laser guide stars at ESO. Photographed at the unveiling of the facility on 26 April 2016.
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Photo credit: © G. HUDEPOHL/EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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