VLt

VLT stands for Very Large Telescope, a facility operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) for optical and infrared astronomy. It is located at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and is one of the most productive ground-based telescopes in the world, designed to deliver high-resolution imaging, spectroscopy and interferometry across a wide range of wavelengths.

The VLT consists of four 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes (UT1–UT4), named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun, and four movable 1.8-meter Auxiliary Telescopes (ATs). The UTs can work individually or together in various configurations, while the ATs enable the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), which combines light from multiple telescopes to achieve far higher angular resolution. The VLTI can use up to four telescopes with baselines reaching about 200 meters.

A suite of instruments supports imaging, spectroscopy and interferometry. Notable instruments include SPHERE for high-contrast imaging of exoplanets and GRAVITY for precision interferometric measurements, as well as a range of spectrographs and imagers such as FORS2, UVES, SINFONI and others. The facility also employs adaptive optics to compensate for atmospheric distortions, enabling high-resolution observations in visible and infrared light.

Operationally, the VLT began scientific operations in the early 2000s and has since contributed to numerous discoveries across astronomy, including studies of star and planet formation, galaxies, and cosmology. Data from the VLT are used by the international astronomical community and are archived by ESO.