Cerro Paranal

Cerro Paranal is a mountain in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, about 120 kilometers south of Antofagasta. At its summit, at 2,635 meters elevation, sits a major observatory with several telescopes used for astronomical research.

The observatory was built on the mountain starting in 1999 and has since become a leading center for astronomical observations. During construction of the facility, the summit was lowered by about 30 meters to position the telescopes optimally.

This mountain is known globally among astronomers as home to one of the world's leading observatories. The location was chosen because the dry desert air provides exceptional conditions for studying the night sky.

The mountain sits about 15 kilometers inland from the Pacific coast and can be reached via highway B-710. The observatory itself is generally not open to the public, but the landscape and night sky in this region reward visitors interested in astronomy.

The mountain hosts the Very Large Telescope, one of the most advanced telescope systems in the world, capable of observing both visible and infrared light. This system consists of four separate reflecting telescopes that can work together to capture extremely fine details of distant objects.