Gang of four: Debut of a big telescope.In the desert of northern Chile, a new telescope has opened for business, completing a quartet of instruments collectively known as the Very Large Telescope The Very Large Telescope Project (VLT) is a system of four separate optical telescopes (the Antu telescope, the Kueyen telescope, the Melipal telescope, and the Yepun telescope) organized in an array formation. Each telescope has an 8.2 m aperture. . Each instrument gathers light with an 8.2-meter mirror and is designed to work both independently and as part of a single, giant telescope. The fourth and final detector took its first official images on Sept. 3 at Paranal Observatory Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Paranal (120 km south of Antofagasta, Chile) and operated by the European Southern Observatory. The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is the largest telescope on Paranal, actually composed of four separate 8. in the Atacama Desert Atacama Desert (ätäkä`mä), arid region, c.600 mi (970 km) long, N Chile, extending south from the border of Peru. The desert itself, c. . Next year, researchers will begin using some of the four 8.2-m telescopes in concert, combining the light they collect. The resulting image, they predict, will give a startlingly star·tle v. star·tled, star·tling, star·tles v.tr. 1. To cause to make a quick involuntary movement or start. 2. To alarm, frighten, or surprise suddenly. See Synonyms at frighten. clear view of the heavens--one never before possible with visible light. |
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