An 8-metre giant telescope in the Cerro Paranal Observatory, Atacama Desert, Chile. At 2,635 metres (8,645 ft) from sea level, Paranal is home to the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT), is the Very Large Telescope (VLT). It is composed of four 8-metre telescopes. In the sky of this single-exposure image are the Southern Cross, the Coalsack dark nebula, and bright stars Alpha and Beta Centauri against the Southern Milky Way.