Paranal Observatory

Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the European Southern Observatory. It is located in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile on Cerro Paranal at 2,635 m altitude, 120 km south of Antofagasta. By total light-collecting area, it is the largest optical-infrared observatory in the Southern Hemisphere; worldwide, it is second to the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii.

The Very Large Telescope, the largest telescope on Paranal, is composed of four separate 8.2 m telescopes. In addition, the four main telescopes can be used simultaneously for extra light gathering capacity, and for interferometry. Four auxiliary telescopes of 1.8 m each are also part of the VLTI to make it available when the main telescopes are being used for other projects.