Inspired by Interstellar

ESO’s La Silla observatory in Chile is unavoidably photogenic from every angle — including unusual and creative perspectives such as this one!

This unique panoramic view was captured by ESO Photo Ambassador Petr Horálek. “I was wondering if it was possible to capture the mystical colours of the Universe without complicated equipment,”he explained, adding that he was initially inspired by one of the posters released to accompany Christopher Nolan’s film Interstellar. “At La Silla, you can really feel — and capture — interstellar moments!”

Petr evidently succeeded in imaging the Universe in all its beauty. The majestic band of the Milky Way galaxy blazes across the sky, creating a cosmic bridge between two of La Silla’s resident telescopes: the ESO 3.6-metre telescope (left) and the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope (right). The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds — a duo of nearby galaxies — are captured together sitting “above” the galactic plane in the upper right corner of the image. The bright splash of red in the middle of the frame is the beautiful Gum Nebula, and the particularly bright dot in the lower left of the image is the planet Jupiter.