Impression, sunset

The Sun sets over Paranal Observatory, painting an array of subtle hues across the sky reminiscent of a Monet landscape. The sparse clouds glow warmly under the Sun's last rays, and the crisp clarity of the air is almost palpable — highlighting why ESO has selected this area of Chile for its observatory. Crepuscular rays — and shadows from the clouds — are streaming from the Sun and appear to converge at the antisolar point.

Two of the four domed Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs) of the Very Large Telescope (VLT) can be seen on the left, waiting patiently for darkness to fall before conducting their survey of the cosmos.

Once the Sun has set, the 1.8-metre diameter ATs will feed starlight to the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), combining the light to produce clear images of the Universe. The mobile ATs are mounted on rails, and can be moved around the VLT site to view the skies from different angles.

This image was posted to the Your ESO Pictures Flickr group by Roger Wesson, a fellow at ESO working at the Paranal Observatory, on 8 March 2013.