Paranal Observatory

Night Falls at Paranal — Preparing for the Observations

The telescope platform at sunset. From left to right are seen the enclosures of YEPUN (in the foreground), ANTU, KUEYEN and MELIPAL.

Astronomical observations begin soon after sunset at Paranal.

Normally, they start with a series of test and calibration exposures that serve to determine the exact status of the various instruments, e.g., in terms of sensitivity at different wavelengths.

Some of these exposures are performed on a white target on the inside of the telescope enclosure, others are made on the sky, as it gets progressively darker.

If they are included in a programme, observations of comparatively bright objects may be carried out while the sky is still relatively bright. However, those of the faintest objects must wait until the period of "astronomical twilight" is over, i.e., when the Sun is at least 18° below the horizon.

Oikeudet:

ESO

Kuvasta

Tunnistus:eso0021d
Tyyppi:Valokuvallinen
Julkaisupäivä:16. kesäkuuta 2000
Vastaavat julkaisut:eso0021
Koko:3000 x 2521 px

Kohteesta

Nimi:Paranal, Very Large Telescope, VLT Unit Telescopes
Tyyppi:Unspecified : Technology : Observatory
Kategoria:Paranal

Kuvaformaatit

Suuri JPEG
1,4 MB
Kokoruudun JPEG
152,2 KB

Zoomattavissa


Taustakuvat

1024x768
183,7 KB
1280x1024
296,1 KB
1600x1200
429,5 KB
1920x1200
521,5 KB
2048x1536
699,9 KB