The UHD Universe

In 2016, a team of four world-class astrophotographers and videographers journeyed to ESO’s Paranal Observatory in Chile. Their goal? To capture striking views of the Universe in ultra high definition (UHD) and fulldome formats — perfect for use in planetarium shows! Over the course of a few weeks, the photographers gathered UHD stills, fulldome timelapses, 360-degree panoramas, and more, including a whole host of breathtaking shots of their surroundings.

One such shot is this ESO Picture of the Week, which shows Paranal — home to ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) — at night. The stargazer visible to the right of the frame, pointing to the beautiful arc of the Milky Way curving overhead, is ESO Photo Ambassador Babak Tafreshi, one of the aforementioned expedition members. The constituent telescopes of the VLT can be seen scattered across the left of the frame (the four boxy Unit Telescopes, and three of the four rounder Auxiliary Telescopes).

The products returned by ESO’s 2016 UHD Expedition are being used by the ESO Supernova Planetarium & Visitor Centre, which opened in May 2018. The ESO Supernova is a collaboration between ESO and the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, and the building was donated by German foundation the Klaus Tschira Stiftung.