A flagship European Southern Observatory facility on Cerro Paranal in Chile, whose GRAVITY and SINFONI instruments tracked the star S2 through its 2018 close pericentre passage near the Milky Way's central black hole, Sagittarius A*, producing the first confirmed measurement of Schwarzschild orbital precession, a signature of Einstein's general relativity, and capping Reinhard Genzel's 30-year observation campaign that shared the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Facts
Observatory TypeGround-based optical observatory (interferometer) 1 LocationCerro Paranal, Atacama Desert, Chile 1 MeasuresMeasures visible and infrared light. 1 Operating PrincipleConsists of four 8.2-meter Unit Telescopes that can operate independently or be combined into a single interferometer, the VLTI, for much finer angular resolution. 1 Classification
Observing Band FAQs
Can the four Very Large Telescope mirrors work together as one instrument?
They are generally used separately but can be combined for very high angular resolution.
Yes. The Very Large Telescope has four large telescopes, each with a primary mirror 8.2 metres in diameter, named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal and Yepun. They are generally used separately, but they can be combined to achieve a very high angular resolution.
Connections
Associated With
Source ESO - Star Dance Around Supermassive Black Hole (2020)European Southern Observatory
Operated By
Source Very Large Telescope (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Located In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.
Sources
1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationVery Large Telescope, General information sectionQuote, Very Large Telescope, General information section
The VLT consists of an arrangement of four large, 8.2-metre (27 ft) diameter telescopes (called Unit Telescopes or UTs) with optical elements that can combine them into an astronomical interferometer (VLTI)
ESO - Star Dance Around Supermassive Black Hole (2020)
European Southern Observatory, European Southern ObservatoryOpening paragraph, 16 April 2020 releaseQuote, Opening paragraph, 16 April 2020 release
Observations made with ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed for the first time that a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way moves just as predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity.
Very Large Telescope (Wikipedia)
Very Large Telescope, lead paragraph section
The Very Large Telescope (VLT)
Very Large Telescope, introduction
The VLT is capable of observing both visible and infrared wavelengths.
Very Large Telescope, Wikipedia - lead section, observing band (optical)
These optical telescopes, named Antu, Kueyen, Melipal, and Yepun (all words for astronomical objects in the Mapuche language), are generally used separately but can be combined to achieve a very high angular resolution.
In Group: Optical Observatories of the Americas, Lead sentence
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is an astronomical facility operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
Operated By: European Southern Observatory, Lead and article text, operator
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) is an astronomical facility operated since 1998 by the European Southern Observatory, located on Cerro Paranal in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile.
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