Very Large Telescope


Very Large Telescope

(VLT) An optical telescope of the European Southern Observatory sited on Cerro Paranal in Chile, altitude 2600 meters. It consists of four 8.2-meter telescopes, each with a thin meniscus primary mirror mounted separately on a N–S baseline on an altazimuth mounting. The manufacture of the mirrors was completed between 1999 and 2001. The reflectors are usable in combination (equivalent to a 16-meter single telescope), individually, or as an interferometer.