Paranal Observatory Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory located on Cerro Paranal ( 120 km south of Antofagasta ) and operated by the European Southern Observatory . The Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) is the largest telescope on Paranal , actually composed of four separate 8.2 m telescopes . In addition the four main telescopes can combine their light to make a fifth instrument , the VLTI , Very Large Telescope Interferometer . Four auxiliary telescopes of 1.8m each are being added to the VLTI to make it available when the main telescopes are being used for other projects . The first two of these were installed in early 2004 and 2005 . The site also houses the 2.5m VLT Survey Telescope and 4m VISTA survey telescope with wider fields of view for surveying large areas of sky uniformly . Very Large Telescope Main article : Very Large Telescope View of some of the telescopes at Paranal . The Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) consists of four 8.2 m telescopes operating in the visible and infrared . These telescopes , along with 4 smaller Auxiliary telescopes , are also combined to operate as an optical interferometer on certain nights of the year . All of the 8.2 m telescopes have adaptive optics and a full suite of instruments . VISTA survey telescope Main article : VISTA ( telescope ) VISTA is the Visible & Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy , a 4 m telescope under construction at the observatory . It is hoped that it will be operational in 2006 . It will have a wide field of view , and as the name suggests it will focus on optical and infrared surveys of the sky . VISTA is being built close to ESO 's VLT by a consortium of 18 UK universities . VLT Survey Telescope ( VST ) Main article : VLT Survey Telescope The VLT Survey Telescope or VST is a proposed 2.5 m telescope with a wide field imager intended to aid the VLT in its scientific aims . Other buildings The Garden of the Residencia As well as the telescopes , control buildings and maintenance facilities , Paranal has a Residencia which provides accommodation for staff and visitors . This is located 200 m lower and 5 km from the telescopes . It is built half into the mountain with the concrete coloured to blend into the landscape . It has gym facilities , a swimming pool , a restaurant and two gardens . Wikimedia Commons has media related to : Paranal Categories : Astronomical observatories in Chile In other languages : Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano Very Large Telescope VISTA ( telescope ) VLT Survey Telescope Paranal de 