This striking image was taken from the Paranal Observatory in Chile without having to use any of its arsenal of telescopes – which include the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and four Auxiliary Telescopes that can work together to form the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI).
It shows the Milky Way over the Residencia, which is home away from home in the Atacama Desert for European Southern Observatory astronomers and technicians.
The building featured in scenes from the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace.
Originally published by Cosmos as No telescope needed
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